FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Want More Scientists? Cut Fees, Say Students.
23 May 2014
Press Release: New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations
“While tinkering with the tuition subsidy on some courses is a welcome admission, Tertiary Education Minister Steven
Joyce has created a funding system which is producing the wrong outcomes, he needs to face the fact that high fees are a
significant deterrent,” said NZUSA president Daniel Haines.
“Joyce announced an increased subsidy for science, agriculture and health science courses with the intention to make
them more attractive for students. This follows an increase in the subsidy for engineering last year. Yet the real
barrier to accessing these courses are high fees and restricted entry. If the subsidy does not address fees then it will
make little difference to student choices.”
“Further, while these are his pet subjects there is much work still to be done. languages for example, are widely agreed
to be around 20% under-funded compared with most countries and an increase in funding of 50% would be required to bring
them to the same level of relative funding as in Australia.”
“As we saw with Engineering last year, increasing the course-cost funding makes no difference to the numbers of students
wanting to study in these areas because they still cost too much. Institutions did not use funding increases to make
Engineering courses more attractive through lowering fees. They are permitted to put fees up by 4% and that’s what they
did – across the board.”
“If the Minister wants more Engineers, Agriculturalists, Scientists, and Pharmacists then we need to make the
qualifications that give access to those professions affordable. This is one set of funding that should come with
strings attached,” said Haines.
ENDS