Executive Summary

2005 is the fourteenth year of operation of the Student Loan Scheme. This report provides a comprehensive picture of the Scheme to date including:

• full audited financial accounts up to 30 June 2005.
• an overview of the government's policy for student financial support.
• a description of the components of the Scheme and how they work.
• extensive statistics on the loan scheme including statistics on loan uptake, loan repayments, borrowers overseas, interest write-offs and capital write-offs due to bankruptcy or death.
• a fair valuation of the scheme, developed by the actuaries working for the agencies that manage the scheme.

Key findings from this year's report are listed below. The full report can be downloaded from the link at the bottom of the page.

It is important to note that the annual report was prepared on the basis of the policy that applied at the time of its compilation. It does not reflect the government's policy of no interest on loans for those resident in New Zealand. Nor does it include information on other new initiatives such as the amnesty on penalties.

Key Findings

Since the Student Loan Scheme was introduced in 1992:

• About 680,000 people have used the scheme
• $2,827 million has been repaid
• 173,168 loans have been completely repaid
• $1,030 million in interest charges has been written off.

Some 445,074 New Zealanders had a student loan at 30 June 2005, representing 14 percent of the population over the age of 15 years.

Some 157,032 students borrowed from the Student Loan Scheme in the 2004 academic year. Of these borrowers:

• 60 percent were women
• 71 percent were under 30 years
• 17 percent were Māori
• 7 percent were Pasifika.

And:

• 90 percent were full-time students who borrowed 96 percent of all borrowings
• 93 percent borrowed fees.

About 53 percent of eligible students accessed a student loan. Full-time students are much more likely to use student loans; 74 percent of eligible full-time students accessed a student loan.

The total outstanding student loan balance was $7,499 million, 10 percent up on the year before.

Students borrowed an average of $6,258 in 2004/05 to fund their study, including fees, course-related costs and living costs, compared to $6,316 the year before.

All student loans outstanding for 2004/05 totalled $7.49 billion, comprising $6.67 billion held by Inland Revenue and $824 million held by the Ministry of Social Development, a balance up 10 percent on the year before.

Some 14 percent of New Zealanders over 15 years (or 445,074 people) had a student loan in 2004/05, with an average balance of $14,997. The median student loan balance was $10,404. About 40 percent of all loans were under $8,000 and only 0.1 percent of borrowers had balances over $100,000.

In 2004/05 some 21,079 loans were fully repaid and the report suggests more students are repaying their loans faster. At 30 June 2005, $2,827 million, or a total of 173,168 loans, have been completely repaid since the scheme started in 1992; and $1,030 million in interest charges has been written off since that time.

Download Individual Chapters