Waikato Internat'l Students welcome Grandparenting

International Students at Waikato University welcome the introduction of fee Grandparenting

The Waikato Students' Union has announced its full support for the University Council's decision today to introduce grandparenting for all international students in 2006. Grandparenting guarantees the same fee level for the duration of a student's degree.

"We are absolutely delighted. We have worked all year for this, making submissions to University Committees all the way up the chain. This will give international students budgetary certainty for the duration of their degree, " said Shiju Pushpamangalam, President of Waikato Student Union (WSU).

“This will stop the University from increasing fees after students are enrolled. It will bring certainty for all international students coming to Waikato University,” said Pushpamangalam.

"Too many have suffered in recent years from fee increases which have driven them into hardship, poor living conditions, forced part-time work, great stress, and impaired academic performance."

The University decided to increase fees for international students who are presently enrolled at Waikato University by 2.7% for 2006, then keep them constant while they finish their degrees. New students next year will pay 7.41% more than the 2005 fees levels, but their fees won't rise for the rest of their degrees. These increases match expected CPI increases.

“Grandparenting of international student fees has been a major campaign initiated by New Zealand University Students Association (NZUSA) and WSU since 2004, ” said Pushpamangalam.

"Students at Waikato University call on other universities to introduce grand-parenting as a step towards providing a better learning experience for their international students . We also encourage all institutions to stop all fee rises for domestic students when their fees are determined later this year, " concluded Pushpamangalam.

ENDS

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