University to recommend fee hikes for Auckland students

October 17, 2011

University to recommend fee hikes for Auckland students in face of Government underfunding

Auckland University students are calling for the University of Auckland Council to reject any increases in student fees.

The University of Auckland Council meets at 4.00pm today to consider domestic fees for 2012 and international fees for 2013, and it is widely understood that this will be a recommendation to raise fees by 4%, the maximum increase permitted under law, as has been the case for the last 3 years.

Student President Joe McCrory, representative of students on the Council, is calling for the University to reject the Government’s vision for tertiary education. “For years Councillors have accepted successive governments shortchanging the future of their students when they approve massive hikes to student fees,” McCrory said.

“Government underfunding has seen fees rise every year since user pays education was introduced, while access and equity in university education has declined. Students should be protected from a lifetime of repayments and encouraged to work and live in New Zealand, not encouraged to leave for overseas paying off a lifetime of graduate debt,” McCrory said.

Student debt now exceeds $11 billion. AUSA urges Council members, especially graduate representatives and staff representatives, to think about the intergenerational inequity they are complicit in creating for the next generation.

“Students have organised a rally against fees in the Student Union quad for 2.00pm, and protest is expected at the Council meeting later,” McCrory concluded.

ENDS

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