Profile & Trends 2008: New Zealand's Tertiary Education Sector
This is edition 11 in an annual series on the tertiary education sector. Profile & Trends 2008 has three supporting booklets – The tertiary education system, What the sector provides and Finding out more about tertiary education. It also has an associated set of tables available on the Tertiary Education Statistics page here on Education Counts.
The short articles in Profile & Trends 2008 cover the following topics: Recent changes to higher education policy and funding in Australia and Scotland; Trends in the demand for tertiary education; Trends in fields of study of bachelors degree graduates; and New Zealand’s industry training data.
Author: Tertiary Sector Performance Analysis and Reporting, Ministry of EducationDate Published: November 2009
Skip to:
- An overview
- Enrolments in 2008
- Outcomes of tertiary education
- Workplace-based learning
- Level 1 to 3 provider-based qualifications
- Non-degree level 4 to 7 provider-based qualifications
- Bachelors and postgraduate qualifications
- Student support
- Research in the tertiary education sector
- Sector capability
- Investing in knowledge and skills
- The year 2008 in brief
- Short Articles
- Downloads
Student support
The number of student allowances recipients increased in 2008, continuing a trend of rising uptake since 2006. This trend was in response to changes made by government designed to widen access to allowances.
In 2008, the number of students taking out a loan increased to 179,000 and the total amount borrowed increased to $1.2 billion. About four out of five eligible full-time students, and one in three of the eligible part-time students, used the loan scheme.
The median and average amount borrowed increased in 2008, continuing an upward trend that started in 2004.
The number of New Zealanders who had a student loan balance with Inland Revenue at 30 June 2009 increased by 5.9 percent to 562,000. More than 60 percent of those with loans owed less than $15,000.
A total of $710 million in loan repayments was collected in the 2008/09 year. Of those who left study in 1992, 82 percent had fully repaid their loans by 31 March 2008. Men and women do not differ significantly in repayment times.
Figure 1.8: Student allowances recipients and student loan borrowers
Source: Ministry of Social Development.