This added to the university's presence in the Bay of Plenty with the Adams Centre for High Performance in Mount Maunganui and the Coastal Marine Field Station in Sulphur Point on the Tauranga Harbour.

[15] In late June 2018, Waikato District Health Board interim chief executive Derek Wright confirmed there was no update on the third medical school apart from an indication that the Government would not make a decision on the proposal until 2019.

[16] In 2019, the Labour-led coalition government rejected the idea of establishing a third medical school and instead supported Health Minister David Clark's proposal for multi-disciplinary training hubs in rural areas.

In November 2019, the National Party released a discussion document on education supporting the Waikato proposal during the lead-up to the 2020 New Zealand general election.

The National Party's health spokesperson Shane Reti supported the revived Waikato proposal, stating it was an opportunity to train rural doctors and partner with Māori communities.

[18] In early July 2023, the National Party made campaign pledge to build the Waikato medical school during the leadup to the 2023 New Zealand general election.

Waikato University then hired Joyce's former press secretary and political advisor Anna Lillis to promote the school.

[21] In June 2023, RNZ had also reported that Waikato University had paid nearly NZ$1 million in consultancy fees to Joyce Advisory.

Undergraduate degrees are also offered through a joint-institute on a satellite campus at Zhejiang University City College in Hangzhou.

[24] The main Hamilton campus is spread over 64 hectares of landscaped gardens and lakes, and includes extensive sporting and recreational areas.

[6] The University of Waikato previously shared campuses with Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology in Tauranga at Windmere in the central city.