Students mark down latest fee rise

Auckland University students say a 4.7 per cent average fee increase next year could further reduce student numbers - and they want the Government to provide more cash.

Next year the University of Auckland Council is to increase fees for undergraduate courses by an average 3.7 per cent and post-graduate courses by $500 (a 9.8 per cent average rise).

Vice-Chancellor Stuart McCutcheon blamed Government funding for the increase, saying the university faced an expected 5.5 per cent increase in costs next year, but the Government was only increasing its contribution by 2.5 per cent.

He said keeping the fee increase within the 5 per cent Government cap meant the university still faced a $7.3 million revenue shortfall. To keep income per student at the same level, an 11.6 per cent fee increase would have been needed.

Dan Bidois, president of the Auckland University Students Association, said the increases could put more students off going to university, especially at post-graduate levels. "Given the stable job market on top of it, many will just go to get a job instead."

Auckland University is already dealing with a drop in enrolments, which has led to redundancies for about 54 teaching staff, mostly from the arts, education, and business and economics departments.

Since 2004, equivalent fulltime students enrolled at the university have dropped by 1965 students - from 31,375 to 29,400 this year.

Mr McCutcheon said the Government had consistently underfunded universities and it was increasingly difficult to maintain education quality.

"The impact of Government under-funding is being borne by the university rather than the students. The university is doing everything it can to maintain and improve the quality of education it offers its students. Current Government funding policies make that very difficult, and not increasing fees would make things even worse."

Mr Bidois said the students' association backed Mr McCutcheon's calls for Government funding.

"The model the university is operating under is not sustainable. It's forcing the university to milk as much as it can from students. Countries like India have a higher rate of government funding per capita for university investment than we do."

Tertiary Education Minister Michael Cullen acknowledged there were funding pressures on universities. The Government had given an extra $26 million this year to help with salary increases for staff. He said funding for universities was being reviewed, and any decisions were expected to apply from 2008.

Other universities are also increasing fees. Canterbury University students face an average 5 per cent rise and Massey University is trying to get an exemption from the fee cap so it can apply a 10 per cent rise. In August the Massey council also decided to increase international student fees by an average of 5 per cent.