In figures released by the New Zealand government's Tertiary Education Commission in May 2007, The University of Waikato was ranked the top tertiary institution for Music, Literary and Other Arts.

This ranking is earned through comparing the quality of research outputs of all the universities in New Zealand for the previous eight years,  carried out under government direction as part of the Performance Based Research Fund (PBRF) exercise.

Professor Roy Crawford, the Vice-Chancellor of Waikato University,  has confirmed: "It is clear we now have the top Music Department".

In practical terms,  the No.1 ranking shows that Music Department staff at Waikato University are highly active in producing top quality compositions, performances and research writings. For students at Waikato University, it means receiving teaching from the top Music staff in the country.

The primary goal of the Performance-Based Research Fund (PBRF) is to ensure that excellent research in the tertiary education sector is encouraged and rewarded.  The PBRF has three components: a periodic Quality Evaluation using expert panels to assess research quality based on material contained in Evidence Portfolios; a measure for research degree completions; and a measure for external research income. In the PBRF funding formula, the three components are weighted 60/25/15 respectively.