New Zealand student debt levels reach $10 billion mark

In 2000, Prime Minister Clarks first year in office, total indebtednessafter nearly a decade of the student loan schemes operationstood at $3 billion. Since then it has risen by a massive $1 billion per annum. In the same year, the average level of debt was $10,600. It is now nearly three times that. It is not unusual for students in courses with higher fees, such as dentistry, veterinary science and medicine, to accumulate debts of nearly $100,000 by the time they complete their studies.

Notwithstanding a temporary fee freeze in 2001-2003, Labour has presided over continual fee rises. While the rate of increase has declined since the 1990s, universities routinely raise fees by the 5 percent annual maximum that Labours policies allow, and some apply for and receive exemptions to allow for increases of as much as 10 percent. Fees for a typical undergraduate program range between about $4,000 per annum for a first degree through to nearly $12,000 a year in medicine. Books, materials and living costs are all extra.