The Ara Institute of Canterbury, formerly the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology (CPIT), is an institute of technology in Christchurch, New Zealand. It provides full- and part-time education in technologies and trades. Ara has a student population from more than 50 countries. Ara Institute of Canterbury is the largest Institute of Applied Sciences in the South Island (25,000 students) and one of the leading institutions of its kind in the country.
Ara is the largest polytechnic and institute of technology in the South Island.
In New Zealand’s ranking, the Performance Based Research Fund, based on the scientific output of all employees, Ara ranked 4th among all institutes of technologies in New Zealand. Ara offers programs in Music Arts, Visual Art & Design, Nursing, Applied Management (Business), Engineering, Applied Science, Education, Information Technology, and Architecture. Ara hosts New Zealand’s only school for radio journalism and communication, the School of Broadcasting.
In 2016, CPIT and Aoraki Polytechnic merged to create the largest polytechnic in the South Island of New Zealand. This gave the institute a temporary name of CPIT Aoraki. In March 2016, CPIT Aoraki was renamed to Ara Institute of Canterbury.
official website: www.ara.ac.nz
