The Uni is possibly considering raising student fees to help with the $60 million funding shortfall. Brandon, President of the Ōtepoti Tertiary Education Union (TEU) branch, was at a TEU conference meeting where an announcement was made that seemed to indicate this. Tim Fowler, executive head of the Tertiary Education Committee (TEC), allegedly said that he had been “having conversations with the University of Otago chancellor about raising fees", which Brandon interpreted to mean “funding universities via student debt." (A correction as of 31 May from Tim can be found here).
There has been no formal public announcement regarding the fee increases made by either TEC or the Uni, and is very much still an officially hypothetical situation. When Critic Te Ārohi reached out to the Uni to ask if there had been any correspondence with the TEC about this, a Uni spokesperson simply replied: “No”. While there are no current plans to increase fees in 2023, the Uni spokesperson indicated that fees may be increased in 2024 in line with gradual increases across the whole tertiary sector.
Brandon said that TEU members were “shocked” by Tim’s statement. Apparently, news of the fee increase was said “almost flippantly” as if it was a positive thing that the Uni would get more funding (from students) and something the TEU would readily accept. The only problem was that this was said to “people who have occupied the Uni registry in the ‘90s,” said Brandon. Oops. Unsurprisingly, it looks like the TEU will remain firmly on the side of students.
Tim exited the conference to a chorus of “Which side are you on?” Just which side Tim is on, only time will tell. Meanwhile, as TEU branch president, Brandon vowed to “fight such a proposal tooth and nail” against student fee increases.
Unsurprisingly, students we spoke to weren't too thrilled at the news. “We are disappointed but not surprised that students are yet again being seen as a solution to manage tertiary deficits and inflation,” said Ellen, President of the New Zealand Union of Students Association (NZUSA). Third-year politics student Emma said that “pushing the cost onto students” would be “unfair and undemocratic.” Ellen pointed out that “students are a part of the rebuilding infrastructure of nurses, teachers, builders, doctors.”
The Uni will review its options when the Government announces the Annual Maximum Fee Movement limit. But a Uni spokesperson said it is “extraordinarily unlikely” that any increase in student fees will make any real difference to the overall funding situation given it could also have the effect of further dissuading enrolments to Uni, as Brandon pointed out. This increased barrier to entry has a disproportionate effect on people of lower-socio economic backgrounds, said Emma.
New Zealand Universities have raised student fees by the maximum allowable amount for several years running now, almost unilaterally across the board.