Tertiary fees maximum levels set by government

12.00pm

Average tertiary eduction fees should increase by no more than the rate of inflation for the next three years, Tertiary Education Minister Steve Maharey said today.

The Government today announced the final fee setting system for universities and polytechs after releasing indicative figure in the budget earlier this year.

The fee maxima system caps the fees students can be charged by tertiary institutions depending on what they are studying.

Fees for arts courses will be a maximum of $3900 in 2004, sciences $4500, engineering $5200, medicine $10,000 and law $4200.

Mr Maharey's spokesman said these represented a level of increases at about the rate of inflation with a few exceptions.

Tertiary institutions that currently charged below the maximum level would be allowed to increase those fees by up to five per cent a year until they reached the maximum.

Institutions that currently charge fees above the maximum will have them frozen.

Postgraduate fees are exempt from the maximum levels, but they will not be allowed to increase by more than $500 a year.

"The Government anticipates that tertiary providers will keep any fee increases to around the rate of inflation next year. We have provided a 3 per cent increase in tuition subsidies for 2004 -- this is 1.2 per cent above inflation estimates," Mr Maharey said.

The universities vice-chancellors' committee reacted angrily to the decisions.

In particular they took exception to the cap being placed on fee increases for universities with fee levels below the maximum.

"The fee maxima policy gave institutions some flexibility in setting tuition fees next year," the committee's executive director Lindsay Taiaroa said.

"Universities would have used that flexibility responsibly to address existing fee anomalies when they set fee structures for 2004.

"Now Government has simply abandoned its own policy and left the entire tertiary education sector high and dry."

Mr Taiaroa said the freeze on fees in recent years had now become a squeeze for political reasons and educational standards would be difficult to preserve.

There would also be problems in the future due to the Government's decision to adjust fees in line with the Consumer Price Index.

"This is clearly unsuited for the purpose given that over the past five year the CPI has risen by just 9.9 per cent, while earnings have risen by 19.4 per cent. Staff costs are definitely the major item for universities as they struggle to attract, retain and reward their staff," he said.

Labour's partner in government, the Progressive Coalition, objected to any fee increases and said money should be found to achieve that.

However, Party leader Jim Anderton said he was "proud" to be part of the decision that stopped low charging tertiary institutions lifting fees to the maximum allowable.

The vice-chancellors disagreed and said they would be appealing to the Government for a more "appropriate escalator for fee maxima".

"If Government will commit to that course their tertiary education strategy may yet be achievable," Mr Taiaroa said.

The Aotearoa Tertiary Students Association welcomed the changes to the system.

"The changes give students the opportunity to plan with a reasonable degree of certainty how much their qualification will cost," association president Julie Pettett said.

"While ATSA would have liked to see fee reductions we accept that these changes sit in a reasonable middle ground between the fee freezes of the last three years and the massive increases of the nineties."

Fee/course cost maxima 2004 to 2006 are:

* Arts; social sciences; general, including community education - 2004 $3900, 2005 3990, 2006 $4074.

*Science; computing; engineering (non degree); agriculture (non degree); nursing; trades; architecture (non degree); fine arts; music - 2004 $4500, 2005 $4604, 2006 $4701.

*Engineering (degree); agriculture (degree); architecture (degree); audiology - 2004 $5200, 2005 $5320, 2006 $5432.

*Dentistry; veterinary science; medicine - 2004 $10,000, 2005 $10,230, 2006 $10,445.

*Specialist large animal science 2004 $5200, 2005 $5320, 2006 $5432.

*Teaching - 2004 $3,900, 2005 $3990, 2006 $4074.

*Business; law - 2004 $4200, 2005 $4297, 2006 $4387.

Funding for aviation courses is subject to separate review.

Herald Feature: Education

- NZPA