75% Believe Tertiary Fees Already Too High

An independent survey released today shows that the public won’t tolerate tertiary institutions increasing fees. “Tertiary institutions should be aware that if they reject the government’s fee freeze offer they will be flying in the face of public opinion,” said Andrew Campbell, NZUSA Co-President.

The Colmar Brunton public opinion survey commissioned by the New Zealand University Students’ Association (NZUSA) and the Aotearoa Tertiary Students Association (ATSA) shows that 75% of New Zealanders think that tertiary fees are already too high.

“We want the government to make a major reinvestment into the tertiary sector so that fees can be reduced, but in lieu of them doing that the institutions should play their part by accepting any reasonable fee freeze offer,” said Campbell.

The public opinion survey shows that 43% think that fees are much too high and 32% think that fees are a little too high. Only 3% of New Zealanders think that fees are too low.

“This is not just student pressure on our tertiary institutions to hold fees at their current level,” said ATSA President Keith Clark. “The wider community is clearly right behind us on this issue.”

“We call on all tertiary institutions to accept the government’s offer in tomorrows budget and make sure that future generations of students are not further indebted,” said Clark.

“Failure to accept the government’s offer could damage the way that the wider community view our tertiary institutions,” said Keith Clark.
ENDS

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