Have university and polytech fees made study unreachable for many?

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Opinion

The Government is to probe whether skyrocketing non-academic fees for university and polytech students are being used to dodge its restrictions on course fee increases, Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce said yesterday.

But Canterbury University - which has hiked its non-academic charges by more than 600 per cent - openly says the increase is a response to the Government's fee caps and "inadequate" funding.

Speaking at Victoria University yesterday Mr Joyce noted a number of universities and polytechs had made "very significant" increases in compulsory levies for students which cover services such as student health, counselling and vocational guidance.

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