The University of Auckland is New Zealand's pre-eminent research-led University. Established in 1883, it has grown into an international centre of learning and academic excellence and is New Zealand's largest university with over 40,000 students and nearly 4700 international students from over 90 countries worldwide. The University is New Zealand's top-ranked tertiary institution based on research quality. The Performance-Based Research Fund review, released in 2004 by the Tertiary Education Commission, concluded that: "On virtually any measure, The University of Auckland is the country's leading research university. Not only did it achieve the highest quality score of any TEO [tertiary education organisation], but it also has by far the largest share of A-rated researchers in the country." Worldwide Networks Being New Zealand’s largest and leading research-intensive university, The University of Auckland has a number of significant international affiliations. It is the only New Zealand member of Universitas 21, the World Universities Network (WUN) and the Association of Pacific Rim Universities, consortia of prestigious global universities.As an institution committed to addressing issues of sustainability both globally and locally, it is also the only NZ member of the Habitat Partner University Network, in partnership with UN-HABITAT, the United Nations Agency for Human Settlements. As a student at Auckland you also have the opportunity to spend a semester or two of your programme on a student exchange at one of more than 90 partner universities in 25 different countries.