Te Wānanga o Aotearoa experienced phenomenal growth during the early 2000s (growing from 3,127 students in 2000 to 66,756 students in 2004) and quickly become the largest tertiary education institution in the country; however, there was a price to pay for this rapid expansion. The organisation became mired under the weight of its own popularity; it was struggling to keep pace with the insatiable desire for learning amongst those who had previously been sidelined by an exclusive education system and its internal processes were struggling to cope.