Students Welcome Victoria Fee Decision

6 September 2006

Students Welcome Victoria Fee Decision

Students are welcoming the decision of the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) to reject the unjustified money grab by Victoria University.

"The Government has recognised that a 10% fee increase requires extraordinary justification, tertiary institutions now need to recognise this and find fairer income sources" stated Joey Randall, Co-President of the New Zealand Union of Students' Associations.

"However the 5% increase in fees that Victoria students experienced this year and possibly next year are still significant and unjustifiable."

"The current Fees Maxima policy simply makes students the primary target of the Government's under-funding of tertiary education and only marginally stabilises fees."

"Fee increases of 5% per year are inexcusable. Labour likes to think it has taken the heat out of the on average 14% per year fee rises we saw from National in the 1990's, but it just seems like Labour is the same beast - only going a bit slower."

"In Australian Universities, the Government contributes 46% of the institutions total funding, whilst here in New Zealand the Government contributes only 38%. It is not good enough."

"Also in Australian Universities, student fees only contributed 19% of the institutions income compared with 31% here, the Government shouldn't be passing the cost of an under-funded tertiary education system onto students."

"We call upon the Government to recognise the under-funding of our public tertiary education system and to address this problem immediately," Mr Randall concluded.

ENDS

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