Friday 8 December 2006

TEC approves fee exemption for Massey University

The Tertiary Education Commission has approved an exemption for Massey University to increase its fees above the standard maxima.

The decision enables the university to increase undergraduate student fees by up to 10 percent and enables them to increase fees for post graduate research above the $500 limit.

Fees for Tertiary Education Organisations are limited to the fee and course cost maxima established by Government. For courses where fees and costs were below the relevant maxima, increases were restricted to five percent each year.

TEC Chair Hon Russell Marshall said the purpose of the policy was to provide tertiary students with a reasonable level of certainty about their future costs, while also providing flexibility to providers in terms of their fee-setting ability.

He said the exemption for Massey University had been approved after a robust assessment of its application.

Three principles are taken into account when applications are assessed:

• The cost of providing the courses is not being met by the income from the courses.
• The organisation is unable to cross-subsidise the courses from its total surplus from all sources while remaining financially viable.
• Not increasing fees would compromise progress towards the achievement of the Tertiary Education Strategy and the Statement of Tertiary Education Priorities, or other critical elements of the tertiary reforms.

“In Massey University’s application, all three principles were met, and overall it demonstrated a case for exemption,” Russell Marshall said.

Ends

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