Borrowing in 2016

• The number of students using the Student Loan Scheme has been decreasing since 2010, this is consistent with a reduction in tertiary education enrolments due to the stronger labour market.
• 44,566 new borrowers used the loan scheme, a decrease of almost 5 percent compared with 2015
• The total amount borrowed was $1.6 billion
• Students used 67 percent of the total they borrowed to pay for course fees
• Borrower uptake reflected the trend towards higher-level qualifications; the number of borrowers at masters and honours level increased while the number of borrowers at all other levels of study decreased
• Of the 176,938 active students who took out a loan:
• 60 percent were female, and
  40 percent were male 
• 63 percent were European, 19 percent were Maori,
  14 percent were Asian and 10 percent were Pasifika 

Repayments in 2016/17

• 42,870 borrowers repaid their loans in full in the year to 30 June 2016
• Overdue student loan debt was $1.2 billion; overseas based borrowers owed 92 percent of the amount overdue
• More overases-based borrowers made repayments; 46 percent made repayments compared with 38 percent in 2015/16
• The forecast median repayment time for all borrowers who left study in 2015 was 8.3 years. It was significantly less for borrowers who stayed in New Zealand (6.8 years) compared to those who spent some time overseas (14.4 years)

Value of the Student Loan Scheme in 2016/17

• The nominal value of all loans was $15.7 billion
• The carrying value of the loan scheme (or the value of the loan asset) was $9.2 billion
• The cost of lending was 44.56 cents in every dollar lent (a total of $662 million) over the year ended 30 June 2017