About the Auckland / Palmerston North / Wellington, New Zealand Programs

The Palmerston North program is a USAC partnership program. Learn more about on-site program elements and the city itself below.

• On-site Staff
• Host University
• Living Accommodations
• Passport and Visa

This program offers campuses in three different cities that you can choose from.

About Palmerston North (Palmy)

• Population: approx. 90,400
• Distance from Auckland: 400 km
• Distance from Sydney, Australia: 2,270 km

Palmerston North (Palmy) is home of the original Massey campus in the Manawatu region. The city offers a true taste of Kiwi culture within a friendly, young, and laid back atmosphere. As a university town, Palmerston North offers a great selection of cafes, pubs, and restaurants catering to the student palate and wallet. Theatre and live music performances are scheduled around town, and popular student pubs come to life during the year, providing great entertainment. There are many hidden treasures in this area including luxurious country retreats, award-winning gardens, uncrowded championship golf courses, special interest museums, galleries, historical homes, and a host of adventures for adrenaline junkies. Throughout the year this region is alive with major national and international events—sporting, cultural, trade shows, conferences, and exhibitions. Horse trekking, bridge swinging, drift and whitewater rafting, and kayaking are available in this incredibly scenic area. If you like to hike, the Manawatu also offers amazing “tramping” country.

About Auckland

• Population: approx. 1.65 million
• Distance from Wellington: 490 km
• Distance from Sydney, Australia: 2,150 km

Auckland, New Zealand’s largest and most populous city, is truly cosmopolitan. Home to over a million people, the city is built on a narrow isthmus between the Waitemata and Manukau Harbors, connected to the North Shore by a beautiful harbor bridge. This waterside setting provides a mild climate and beautiful scenery of water dotted with sailboats against the city skyline. Auckland offers all the advantages of large, international city— diverse culture, arts, entertainment, festivals, sports, major transportation, and industry—in addition to easy access to the amazing natural highlights of the Auckland region, including 48 nearby volcanic cones, numerous parks and reserves, rugged black sand beaches, over 100 km of coastline, and rainforests. The Albany campus is part of North Shore city. Within walking distance of the campus is a large shopping centre where students can shop and browse, and just down the road is the Albany village with its traditional shops. The campus is surrounded by a wide range of amenities, including numerous cafes, shopping centres, cinema complexes, art galleries, libraries, a performing arts facility, and extensive leisure and sport facilities including the North Harbour Sports Stadium.

About Wellington

• Population: approx. 419,000
• Distance from Palmerston North: 127 km
• Distance from Sydney: 2,200 km

Wellington is New Zealand’s political and cultural capital and is truly a great city in which to live. Compact and funky, this unique urban space is situated between a magnificent harbor and rolling green hills. Shops, galleries, restaurants, clubs and world class entertainment all co-exist within a thriving and fast paced yet intimate urban environment where café culture dominates. "Welly" is home to Parliament, the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa, a thriving film industry, and "heaps" of interesting culture and events. It is the southern-most city of the North Island, serving as the gateway to the South Island. Wellington consistently ranks highly in lists of "must-see" cities in the world as well as for quality of life. Lonely Planet named it as one of the top ten cities to visit in 2011, calling it "the coolest little capital in the world."