Wānanga

Budget 2011 acknowledges the challenges of the current economic climate and the need to support the Christchurch rebuild, and strikes a balance between providing places and meeting higher costs.

It continues the Government’s drive for high performance, value for money and flexibility in responding to demand. It shifts funding away from areas of low demand to provide more places in high-demand, high-value areas and sets clear incentives for both students and organisations to continue their drive for excellence.

Budget 2011 further raises the number of places under the Youth Guarantee, by combining existing Youth Training and Youth Guarantee places. This will result in up to 7,500 Youth Guarantee places being made available from 2012.

Budget 2011 also recognises the impacts of the February 22 earthquake and incorporates a $42m trades-training contingency fund as part of the Skills for Canterbury package to support the Christchurch rebuild with more trades training places, if required.

Targeted subsidy increases are the single biggest dollar value item in the 2011 tertiary education Budget. Budget 2011 provides a 2% targeted subsidy increase for degree and post-graduate study. It also equalises the funding rates for post-graduate study across polytechnics, wānanga and universities. In addition, tertiary education providers will be able to increase fees for all Government-funded courses by up to 4% in 2012 under the Annual Maximum Fee Movement.

Budget 2011 also makes a number of changes in the student loan system, intended to help make the tertiary system more responsive to changes in demand and enable government to better manage the cost of the scheme.

Key points for Wānanga:

• Combining Youth Training and Youth Guarantee into a new programme, Youth Guarantee, with up to 7,500 places from 2012
• $42m in contingency funding to provide up to 1500 additional trades training places to support the Christchurch rebuild
• Funding rates for postgraduate study equalised across universities, polytechnics and wānanga
• 2% increase in the subsidy rate for degree and post-graduate courses
• The Annual Maximum Fee Movement will allow tertiary education providers to increase fees for all Government-funded courses by up to 4% in 2012
• Removing the entitlement for part-time full-year students to borrow course-related costs
• Restricting borrowing for those 55 years and over to cover tuition fees only
• Restricted loan eligibility for borrowers with overdue repayment obligations of $500 or more for one or more years.