Domestic tuition fees at The University of Auckland will increase by an average 3.7% for 2008.
The University’s Council approved the fee increases today. They equate to an average 2.7% increase for undergraduates and 7.2% for postgraduates.
The Government’s tuition subsidy - the single largest source of student funding - will increase by only 2.1% for 2008, well below the real rise in university costs. Coupled with Government-imposed limits on student fees, revenue increases in 2008 will not be sufficient to meet the increase in University costs. Overall the University will suffer a shortfall of $7.9 million in real terms.
"The University of Auckland’s fees continue to be low by international standards, but the Government’s fee maxima policy means the University’s financial position will continue to suffer." says Vice-Chancellor Stuart McCutcheon.
Professor McCutcheon says each year the Government has three options in relation to increased costs for University tuition: increasing the Government subsidy to meet these costs, allowing the universities to increase student tuition fees, or a combination of these two. Successive Governments have chosen the third option but, by controlling both subsidies and fees and holding increases to less than the real increases in costs, have forced universities to accept substantial cuts in real terms.
"The cumulative effect of these policies is now an annual loss of about $220 million across the university sector," says Professor McCutcheon. "While we would prefer not to put student fees up, the only other option available to us is to suffer an even greater reduction in revenue and with it a decline in quality. That is not acceptable."
Tuition fees for most international students will rise by 5%, equivalent to the projected increase in the university’s cost structure, arising mainly from increases in staff salaries and related costs.
