Foreign students to pay more

Stuart McCutcheon

Auckland University fees for international students will rise by 5 per cent next year, lifting the average fee to $25,000.

Fees for international students studying medicine will increase to $45,000 - up 17 per cent from last year.

The Auckland University Students' Association (AUSA) said the university council was treating international students as "cash cows" because of the perception they were wealthy.

University Vice-Chancellor Professor Stuart McCutcheon said the 5 per cent increase compared with an estimated 6 per cent increase in costs the university faced next year.

For most fulltime undergraduate university courses, international students pay about $20,000 a year. For courses such as optometry and medicine the fees are from $32,000 to $38,000.

"We have kept to our undertaking to international students that their fees would not rise at a rate greater than the university's costs. The level of increase is similar to those for each of the last three years."

He said the fall in the New Zealand dollar would also help offset the impact of the increase for overseas students.

International student numbers have dropped by 18 per cent from last year to this year, which a university spokesperson said was due to the rise of universities in China as well as overseas competition.

The increase applies to international students taking undergraduate and postgraduate courses, except for exchange and doctoral students who pay the same as domestic students.

AUSA education vice-president Xavier Goldie said the increases would deter more foreign students, whose number were already slumping.

"There's a common misconception that international students are rich and have money to burn ... Eventually the University of Auckland may be looking at a situation where the 'cash cow' leaves for greener pastures."

He said many families had saved for years and taken out loans to pay for their child's education.

Fees for domestic students are subsidised by the Government, which has put a 5 per cent cap on fee increases.