Three tertiary institutes have joined together and propose to build a new Tauranga campus in a bid to keep young people from leaving the region.
Te Whare Wananga o Awanuiarangi in Whakatane, the University of Waikato and Bay of Plenty Polytechnic are partners in the new proposal.
It's even gained support from the Bay of Plenty Regional Council and the Western Bay of Plenty District Council.
The Western BOP District Council says 50% of people in their 20's leave the region and don't start coming back in large numbers until age 40.
Awanuiarangi chief executive Graham Hingangaroa Smith says the collective aims to create more opportunity for students, including Maori.
He says at this particular time it's very hard for rangatahi (young people) to move away to the cities to live as well as compete for the small number of vacancies available for certain tertiary programmes.
Mr Smith says the idea of the three institutes creating more education opportunities will be beneficial for young people and will help keep them in the region.
