Our universities, polytechnics and colleges of education are currently unable to respond effectively to student and employer demands for high quality education at a competitive cost. Government caps on fees that can be charged and numbers of students able to be enrolled at any given institution reduce competition and ultimately the efficiency of our tertiary education sector. As a result, our universities have slid down the international rankings in recent years, with our top performer, the University of Auckland, having dropped to 82nd this year from 46th only five years ago.
Students are very heavily subsidised by the taxpayer. Three quarters of their course costs are paid by the government, and they pay zero interest on their student loans. This is despite tertiary graduates being, typically, our highest earners. While there is a role for the government to subsidise tertiary qualifications, subsidies at such high levels are unfair on other taxpayers who often earn less, and reduce the funding available for quality research.
Many of our graduates leave to see the world – and never return. We need a prosperous economy in order to ensure those who go on their OE come back to New Zealand afterwards. If they do not, New Zealand taxpayers lose their substantial investments in students forever and the country becomes dramatically poorer.
In the last parliamentary term, with ACT’s pressure and support, the government:
• Passed ACT’s Education (Freedom of Association) Amendment Act, so that students who wish to study can no longer be forced to join a student union against their will;
• Implemented policies to increase our economy’s competitiveness, including the establishment of the Productivity Commission and a substantial reduction in regulation.
ACT wants a world class tertiary education system. A Party Vote for ACT is a vote to:
• Remove the fee caps which currently apply to tertiary education institutions to allow those institutions to specialise and excel;
• Reintroduce market interest rates for student loans, to ensure that those who most benefit from tertiary education pay a fairer proportion of their education’s cost;
• Open the delivery of trade courses to wider competition;
• Encourage links and cooperation between the business community and tertiary teaching institutes;
• Set institution achievement standards to international benchmarks for cost and service quality;
• Assist students to pay back student loans by cutting taxes and fostering a more dynamic economy.