University explains proposed int'l fee rises
4 June 2004
Waikato University explains proposed international fee rises
Waikato University strongly
appreciates and supports its international
students and
has valid reasons for the proposed international
fee
increases in 2005. The university has to cover
costs, says the
university's international director
Lynette Muter. The increases are due
to be discussed at a
university council meeting on Wednesday 9 June.
Ms Muter
also stresses that only a small number of students have
been
affected by high fee increases relating to a
government policy change,
and that a hardship fund is in
place to support students who qualify for
assistance.
Students applying for hardship would need to have
been
enrolled at the university prior to 2003. Students
enrolled in
degree/diploma programmes in 2003 were given
a "fee increase holiday"
for A semester 2004 as a gesture
of goodwill.
Ms Muter explains that from 2002 onwards
there have been annual
international tuition fee
increases to compensate for the higher costs
of academic
and pastoral support, the government's introduction of
a
compulsory levy for export education providers,
compliance costs and
operational and capital costs
incurred as a result of enrolling
international students
at the university. "The Education Act 1989
requires that
international fees should cover the costs of
specific
provision for international students plus any
marginal costs applicable
where international students
occupy places on mainstream courses."
There has also been
a commercial need to bring the university's fees in
line
with its New Zealand competitors, given that lower fees can
be
equated with low quality. The effect on students has
been exacerbated by
a strong New Zealand dollar over the
last two years and the introduction
of compulsory travel
and medical insurance by government in January
2004.
A
major factor behind some of the very steep rises quoted for
a small
number of students has been the introduction of
charging on an EFTS
(equivalent full-time student) basis
rather than on a flat per course
tuition fee basis.
"Unfortunately the students are comparing
individual
degree paper costs prior to the change, with a
similarly numbered or
level paper after the change to
credit points, but this is not a fair
comparison," says
Ms Muter. "Some students are caught in the
changeover
because they are already part way through
their qualification under the
old regulations, and for
this reason the Vice-Chancellor set up a
hardship fund in
2003."
To date six students have qualified for assistance
under the fund's
criteria out of 16 applications
considered by the hardship committee.
"Students in 2005
will still be able to apply to the hardship fund if
they
qualify for assistance as set out in the letter available
from the
International Centre Reception," says Ms
Muter.
In respect of Bachelors Degrees and Graduate
Diplomas, excluding Waikato
Management School programmes,
next week's council meeting will consider
an
international tuition fee increase of between 3.2% and 6.7%.
The fee
increase introduced this year, in the B semester,
for new students in
the Waikato Management School (WMS)
is proposed to be extended to all
WMS students for 2005.
The Language Institute is recommending no change
for
2005.
"We have a strong commitment to providing quality
education and care to
our international students and this
is achieved by improving services to
them," says Ms
Muter.
ENDS