Changes to compulsory student services levies

The government is moving to ensure large increases in non-academic, compulsory student fees become a thing of the past with the introduction of legislation which will require institutions to be more transparent.

This aspect of the legislation, which will be introduced in the next couple of weeks, has come about as a result of a review last year of student services levies by the Ministry of Education at the request of Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce.

Mr Joyce says in the last few years many tertiary education providers have made significant increases to compulsory levies on all students.

“The increases charged in some cases have been dramatic and I am not convinced that they have all been fair to students.

“In some instances, it is quite likely that the funds from the student services levy have gone towards core services that we would expect would be paid for through tuition subsidies and tuition fees.

“For example, I have seen institutions charging things like a ‘building maintenance levy’ or ‘library services’ or ‘compulsory charges for internet access’. I think most New Zealanders would class these as core services.”

Compulsory student services fees are charged by all universities and fourteen out of eighteen institutes of technology and polytechnics. These fees are for the delivery of a wide range of additional non-academic services, which vary between providers, such as health and counselling services, careers information and sports and recreation.

“Given the compulsory nature of these fees, it is appropriate that government and students have some oversight of them,” says Mr Joyce.

The Education Amendment Bill (No. 4) will require universities and polytechnics - and other providers if they choose to charge these fees - to be upfront about the fees and what they are for. It will also ensure students have more say about how they are spent.

Under the proposed changes, the Minister will have the power to issue directions to providers on any of the following matters:

• the categories of services that providers can use compulsory student services fees to fund
• how fees are held by the provider (for example, in a separate, audited, publicly disclosed trust account to be used for the purpose of expenditure on student services)
• arrangements for decisions to be made jointly or in consultation with students on matters associated with student services
• include in the annual report (for institutions) or a written statement to students (for PTEs), a description of the services funded out of the student services fee and a statement of the fee income and expenditure on each type of services.
• If the Minister is not satisfied that an individual provider is complying with the directions he has issued, he will have the power to issue a further direction specifying to a provider the maximum limit on the amount that may be charged for those services