About the Student Achievement Component
The Student Achievement Component (SAC) is the government’s contribution to the direct costs of teaching, learning and other costs driven by student numbers.
The SAC provides funding to reflect the volume and mix of provision agreed in a tertiary education organisation's (TEO's) Investment Plan. It is only available to providers of tertiary education. Industry training organisations receive funding through the Industry Training Fund.
SAC funding comprises two elements:
- The programme element relates to the types of programmes or courses approved for funding in a TEO's Investment Plan, based on the Student Achievement Component funding categories
- The volume element relates to the number of valid enrolments in those programmes or courses.
Some certificate level SAC-funded courses at institutes of technology and polytechnics may also receive additional funding for embedded literacy and numeracy in 2009 and 2010.
Student Achievement Component funding payments
A TEO's total SAC funding equals the number of equivalent full-time students (EFTS) in each funding category, as agreed in the Investment Plan, multiplied by the funding rate for each category. SAC funding is paid in 12 monthly instalments.
Single Data Returns (SDRs) are required for monitoring purposes. Forecast EFTS are still required, although funding payments will not be based on the forecast figures.
Student Achievement Component funding rates for 2009
Under-delivery and over-delivery
As actual enrolments may vary from the total approved in an Investment Plan, there is a 3% tolerance band for over- and under-delivery. This band is based on the total SAC dollar value, not EFTS volumes.
The TEC will discuss over or under-delivery with the TEO concerned before taking any action. As with other significant variations from the Investment Plan, TEOs should raise significant shifts in delivery from those agreed in their Investment Plans with the TEC at the earliest possible time. TEIs should contact their Investment Managers and PTEs should contact the Service Centre.
Under-delivery
If actual delivery falls below 97% of the forecast level, the TEC may recover the difference between the actual value of delivery and 97% of forecast delivery. Under-delivery may also relate to specific commitments such as the mix of provision.
Over-delivery
Over-delivery does not attract additional SAC funding. Consequently, over-delivery may threaten a TEO's financial stability or its ability to deliver quality education.
If the value of a TEO's enrolments exceeds the upper tolerance level, the TEC has a range of options under the performance consequences framework. These include:
- Placing conditions on future funding (such as introducing stronger monitoring systems for newly funded projects)
- Revising approved enrolment numbers in the Plan for future years
- Taking no action if there is a good reason for exceeding the band.
Further information
Further details can be found in the Investment Guidance Supplement – Key Funding Decisions (PDF, 254 Kb).