26 April 2006
Allowances going down, campus by campus
Information released by the Ministry of Education to the New Zealand University Students’ Association (NZUSA) under the
Official Information Act highlights the decline in the number of students who receive a student allowance on a campus by
campus level. (Tables included in appendix below).
“The total number of students receiving a living allowance dropped to 56,806 students in 2005, down from 60,826 in 2004
and over 70,000 in 2001,” said Conor Roberts, Co-president of NZUSA.
“The largest single drop was at the University of Waikato which had 3,541 students receiving a living allowance in 2002
but now only has 2,672 recipients. That’s 869 less students being supported while they study.”
Other large decreases occurred at the University of Otago which had 4,579 students receiving a living allowance in 2002,
down to only 4,297 receiving one last year – a drop of 462. The University of Canterbury, which had 3,465 students
receiving a living allowance in 2002, was down to only 2,903 last year – a drop of 562. And the University of Auckland
which had 8,384 students receiving a living allowance in 2002, was down to only 7,961 last year – a drop of 468.
“Across the majority of tertiary campuses, the amount of students receiving a living allowance has been dropping year
after year.”
“This is terrible - fewer tertiary students are being supported while they study and the fact is that one third of total
student debt is owed by students who are forced to borrow to live, pay the bills, rent and food.”
Students under 25 years of age have faced tough parental means-testing to determine their eligibility for a student
living allowance since 1992.
“The parental means test is unjust and we call upon the Government to increase access to allowances in next month’s
Budget by dropping the unfair age test and turn around the declining number of students who are supported while they
study.”
“The interest free student loan policy is a positive move for graduates working their way out of debt. However, we need
to stop the drivers of debt, such as poor access to living allowances, and therefore prevent students getting into debt
in the first place.”
“This Government needs to introduce policy so that all students receive a living allowance and are supported while they
study,” Mr Roberts concluded.
Appendix of tables: Number of Student Allowance Recipients Studying at a Public Tertiary Education Provider by Year and
Education Provider
* Data supplied by the Ministry of Education in response to an Official Information Act Request
Tertiary Education provider 2002 2003 2004 2005
Aoraki Polytechnic 267 269 262 245
Auckland College of Education 890 830 808
Auckland University of Technology 4,182 3,988 3,827 3,697
Bay of Plenty Polytechnic 792 637 674 583
Christchurch College of Education 1,763 1,561 1,489 1,336
Christchurch Polytechnic Inst of Tech 1,763 1,561 1,489 1,336
Dunedin College of Education 480 388 376 336
Eastern Institute of Technology 844 741 705 588
Lincoln University 835 659 698 602
Manukau Institute of Technology 1,606 1,491 1,476 1,464
Massey University 5,599 5,344 5,066 4,610
Nelson Marlborough Inst of Technology 843 909 702 564
Northland Polytechnic 606 528 459 455
Otago Polytechnic 1,124 1,030 902 820
Southland Institute of Technology 1,218 1,187 1,021 818
Tai Poutini Polytechnic 186 214 243 257
Tairawhiti Polytechnic 435 433 395 361
Te Wananga O Aotearoa 982 1,276 1,185 1,280
Te Wananga O Raukawa 404 377 364 300
Te Whare Wananga O Awanuirangi 143 184 189 190
Telford Rural Polytechnic 16 21 30 24
The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand 374 334 323 230
UNITEC New Zealand 2,412 2,254 2,216 2,119
Universal College of Learning (UCOL) 1,183 1,401 1,349 1,101
University of Auckland 8,384 7,940 7,580 7,916
University of Canterbury 3,465 3,262 3,174 2,903
University of Otago 4,759 4,554 4,492 4,297
University of Waikato 3,541 3,247 3,020 2,672
Victoria University of Wellington 3,525 3,560 3,723 3,676
Waiariki Institute of Technology 912 867 714 585
Waikato Institute of Technology 1,679 1,502 1,280 1,117
Wanganui Regional Polytechnic 444
Wellington College of Education 390 397 340
Wellington Institute of Technology 814 749 653 588
Western Institute of Technology Taranaki 465 452 404 326
Whitireia Community Polytechnic 650 714 671 702
Total 57,177 54,150 51,667 47,503
Number of Full-time Domestic Enrolments at Public Tertiary Education Providers by Year and Education Provider
Tertiary Education provider 2002 2003 2004 2005
Aoraki Polytechnic 769 988 930 1,913
Auckland College of Education 2,264 2,262 2,351
Auckland University of Technology 10,900 11,042 10,956 10,602
Bay of Plenty Polytechnic 1,897 1,798 1,887 1,912
Christchurch College of Education 2,088 2,189 2,158 2,181
Christchurch Polytechnic Inst of Tech 4,079 4,159 4,042 4,125
Dunedin College of Education 976 913 875 839
Eastern Institute of Technology 1,943 1,943 2,323 2,108
Lincoln University 1,778 1,608 1,612 1,535
Manukau Institute of Technology 4,392 4,925 4,931 4,745
Massey University 13,563 13,454 12,912 11,581
Nelson Marlborough Inst of Technology 1,765 2,001 1,913 1,893
Northland Polytechnic 1,488 1,517 2,636 2,262
Otago Polytechnic 2,744 2,718 2,532 2,567
Southland Institute of Technology 2,996 3,064 3,059 2,881
Tai Poutini Polytechnic 741 1,366 1,243 2,830
Tairawhiti Polytechnic 930 1,105 1,192 1,057
Te Wananga O Aotearoa 18,152 27,684 22,638 18,932
Te Wananga O Raukawa 1,764 1,471 1,488 1,675
Te Whare Wananga O Awanuirangi 373 864 1,678 1,664
Telford Rural Polytechnic 124 151 214 887
The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand 9,309 8,241 8,943 2,383
UNITEC New Zealand 5,913 6,081 6,359 5,783
Universal College of Learning (UCOL) 3,132 4,053 4,298 3,818
University of Auckland 20,436 20,983 21,256 23,602
University of Canterbury 8,566 8,625 8,669 8,565
University of Otago 12,689 13,147 13,399 13,548
University of Waikato 7,398 7,286 7,437 6,892
Victoria University of Wellington 9,628 9,855 10,191 10,855
Waiariki Institute of Technology 2,305 2,444 2,286 1,993
Waikato Institute of Technology 3,936 3,763 3,811 4,450
Wanganui Regional Polytechnic 890
Wellington College of Education 861 842 830
Wellington Institute of Technology 2,793 2,829 2,885 2,826
Western Institute of Technology Taranaki 1,272 1,456 1,384 1,095
Whitireia Community Polytechnic 2,191 2,298 2,483 2,698
Total 167,045 179,125 177,801 166,697
Percentage of Student Allowance Recipients from a Number of Full-time Domestic Enrolments at a Public Tertiary Education
Provider by Year and Education Provider
Tertiary Education provider 2002 2003 2004 2005
Aoraki Polytechnic 34.7% 27.2% 28.2% 12.8%
Auckland College of Education 39.3% 36.7% 34.4%
Auckland University of Technology 38.4% 36.1% 34.9% 34.9%
Bay of Plenty Polytechnic 41.8% 35.4% 35.7% 30.5%
Christchurch College of Education 46.2% 38.8% 39.7% 34.0%
Christchurch Polytechnic Inst of Tech 43.2% 37.5% 36.8% 32.4%
Dunedin College of Education 49.2% 42.5% 43.0% 40.0%
Eastern Institute of Technology 43.4% 38.1% 30.3% 27.9%
Lincoln University 47.0% 41.0% 43.3% 39.2%
Manukau Institute of Technology 36.6% 30.3% 29.9% 30.9%
Massey University 41.3% 39.7% 39.2% 39.8%
Nelson Marlborough Inst of Technology 47.8% 45.4% 36.7% 29.8%
Northland Polytechnic 40.7% 34.8% 17.4% 20.1%
Otago Polytechnic 41.0% 37.9% 35.6% 31.9%
Southland Institute of Technology 40.7% 38.7% 33.4% 28.4%
Tai Poutini Polytechnic 25.1% 15.7% 19.5% 9.1%
Tairawhiti Polytechnic 46.8% 39.2% 33.1% 34.2%
Te Wananga O Aotearoa 5.4% 4.6% 5.2% 6.8%
Te Wananga O Raukawa 22.9% 25.6% 24.5% 17.9%
Te Whare Wananga O Awanuirangi 38.3% 21.3% 11.3% 11.4%
Telford Rural Polytechnic 12.9% 13.9% 14.0% 2.7%
The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand 4.0% 4.1% 3.6% 9.7%
UNITEC New Zealand 40.8% 37.1% 34.8% 36.6%
Universal College of Learning (UCOL) 37.8% 34.6% 31.4% 28.8%
University of Auckland 41.0% 37.8% 35.7% 33.5%
University of Canterbury 40.5% 37.8% 36.6% 33.9%
University of Otago 37.5% 34.6% 33.5% 31.7%
University of Waikato 47.9% 44.6% 40.6% 38.8%
Victoria University of Wellington 36.6% 36.1% 36.5% 33.9%
Waiariki Institute of Technology 39.6% 35.5% 31.2% 29.4%
Waikato Institute of Technology 42.7% 39.9% 33.6% 25.1%
Wanganui Regional Polytechnic 49.9%
Wellington College of Education 45.3% 47.1% 41.0%
Wellington Institute of Technology 29.1% 26.5% 22.6% 20.8%
Western Institute of Technology Taranaki 36.6% 31.0% 29.2% 29.8%
Whitireia Community Polytechnic 29.7% 31.1% 27.0% 26.0%
Total 34.2% 30.2% 29.1% 28.5%
ENDS