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

Investing in knowledge and skills

Operating expenditure and total government expenditure on tertiary education was well above 2002/03 levels in nominal and real terms.  In the year ended June 2008, tertiary education operating expenditure rose in all categories except operating expenditure on student loans.  That category of expenditure fell as a result of accounting changes in the loan scheme which meant that a greater share of the borrowings was treated as capital and less as operating.¹

Total government spending on tertiary education, including operational costs and capital expenditure, was $4.8 billion in 2008, compared to $4.9 billion in 2007. As a percentage of gross domestic product, total expenditure and operating expenditure decreased in 2008, mainly as a result of a fall in the operating costs of the Student Loan Scheme, resulting from accounting changes in the loan scheme. Total tertiary expenditure accounted for 2.7 percent of gross domestic product while operating expenditure accounted for 1.9 percent. The main difference between the operating and total expenditure was the amount of Student Loan Scheme lending that was treated as a capital expense.

The number of equivalent full-time student places funded by the government increased in 2007. Government spending on tuition subsidies also increased as a result of increases in the number of student places and in funding rates.

The average domestic student fee per equivalent full-time student increased by 6 percent at public tertiary education institutions.  Part of this increase was due to a continued move away from enrolments in low-cost or zero-fee courses. The number of international students continued to fall in 2007 and as a result total international fees revenue also continued to fall in 2007.

An article examining the pattern in government-funded equivalent full-time students by age group and qualification level is included in chapter 16. The article looks at how the Statement of Tertiary Education Priorities 2005/07 has impacted on the allocation of resources in the tertiary education sector between 2001 and 2007.  A second article in chapter 16 compares the funding of tertiary education in New Zealand with that in other OECD countries.

Footnote

1. Previous editions of Profile & Trends excluded operating expenditure on the Student Loan Scheme.