Profile & Trends 2007: New Zealand's Tertiary Education Sector

Student support

After several years of decrease, the uptake of student allowances began to increase in 2006, in response to changes made by government designed to widen access to allowances. This increase was continued in 2007 with a 5.1 percent increase in the number of recipients.

The uptake of student loans also rose in 2007 by nearly 4 percent. About 77 percent of eligible full-time students used the loan scheme in 2007 while 35 percent of eligible part-time students borrowed.

The total amount borrowed in 2007 was more than $1.17 billion, an increase of more than 6 percent on the previous year. The median amount borrowed in 2007 was $5,870, up nearly 4 percent on 2006.

More than half a million New Zealanders held loans on 30 June 2008 – 6.2 percent more than the number a year before. The median loan balance was $10,900.  More than 60 percent of those with loans owed less than $15,000.

About half of those who left study in 1997 had repaid in full by 2006. Student loan repayment times for men and women do not differ much.

The findings of two studies using the integrated dataset for Student Loan Scheme Borrowers are presented in chapter 11. The first study, "Educational achievement of student support recipients", reported the effect of the different types of student support on academic achievement. The second study, "Labour market outcomes of student support recipients", is an extension of the first study and looks at the effect, or lack of effect, of the student support system on people’s earnings. Finally, some historical background on government’s support for tertiary study, together with the recent changes made to student support, is presented in an article entitled 'The impact of student support policies".