Fee Rises

Fees Over the Years for Full-Time Students (source: NZUSA.org.nz)

1989 - $300 - 90% of this was paid by the government through a student support system (for most students)

1990 - $1250 flat tertiary fee - introduced by Labour

1990 - Tertiary Institutions were allowed to set their own fees without any government regulation - introduced by National

In the 1990s - an average rise of fees by 13%

2001, 2002 and 2003 - fee freezes by the Labour-Alliance Government

2004 - fee rises

2005 - fee rises

2006 - fee rises

2007 - fee rises

2008 - proposed fee rises...

Helen Clark said in November 1999, the month she was elected Prime Minister, that “tertiary fee rises are crippling our future”. She went onto state, “Labour is committed to first stabilising and then lowering tertiary fees. We want to do that because Labour believes that nothing makes a greater contribution to the equality of opportunity than education.”

How much should we pay for our education?

A Student Allowance for Everyone!

We are forced to borrow money from the Student Loan Scheme in order to survive. Even when we get that $150 for living costs (that we have to pay back) that is still not enough to live on!

The following table details the average cost of living expenses, revealed in the TNS Income and Expenditure Survey (2004)

Expenses - Weekly Average
Food - $61
Local Transport - $32
Accommodation - $116
Entertainment - $36
Living expenses - $40
Personal items - $17
General bill - $38
Misc - $30
Childcare costs - $59

Not only that but the number of students who receive student allowances is decreasing...

"Between 1990 and 2001, the proportion of full-time students receiving
an allowance fell from 85.4% to 36.7%. By 2004, the proportion of
full-time students receiving an allowance had dropped to 29%."

In 2001, 70,231 student received allowances
In 2002, 68,869 student received allowances
In 2003, 64,036 student received allowances
In 2004, 60,826 student received allowances
In 2005, 56,806 student received allowances

Until 1992, 86.4% of students received a living allowance or a grant while they were studying.

In 1989, the fourth Labour Government introduced the Youth and Student
Allowances Scheme. An element of means testing was implemented for students under 20 years.


National promised to get rid of the parental means test during the 1990 election but once they took office they extended parental
means testing for those under 20 to those under 25

During the 1996 election Labour promised a universal student living allowance but have never delivered on it.


In a Salient interview in September 2003 (Issue 22), Prime Minister Helen Clark was quoted as saying:

“When I was a student, I don’t recall people working at night or at the weekend for paid work. We had a universal allowance. I was a student from out of town, so I had a boarding allowance as well. We were expected to work over the summer holidays. I think if one can avoid working part-time through the year, it’s desirable because you really need time to put into your course.”

(quote and data taken from nzusa.org.nz)

Welcome to Abolish Student Debt!

These days students have a tough deal. Student allowances are only available for a small amount of students and the $150 that is available for living cost is simply not enough to live on. Students are having to compromise their studies by taking on part time work in order to meet these living costs. This Labour government made a step in the right direction by making student loans interest free, however this is not enough!

The aims of this group are (in no particular order):
1 - get student issues on the agenda for the next election
2 - raise the amount that one can borrow to live on
3 - protest against ever increasing fees
4 - promote a universal student allowance

Ultimately we want to organise a nation wide sit in with a lot of media attention. To do this however we need the support of every student in New Zealand who is at least slightly peeved about their situation.