20/03/2025
James Webb
[FYI request #29988 email]
Tēnā koe James
OIA: 1343330 – Information relating to tertiary tuition fees and student loans
Thank you for your email to the Inland Revenue of 7 February 2025. The following parts of your
request were transferred to the Ministry of Education (the Ministry) on 20 February 2025:
For years 2005, 2010, 2015, 2020 and 2024:
1. Please provide the average time taken to pay back loans [in the above years to pay
back student loans] by qualification level e.g. certificate, diploma, Bachelor’s, etc.
2. What is the average student living cost borrowed by students?
3. What was the average tuition cost?
Your request has been considered under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act).
In response to
part one of your request, the median repayment time measures the time for half of
those leaving tertiary study to have fully repaid the loan. Please see
Table 1 below for the median
repayment time by level of study for those who last studied in the years shown. The last cohort of
leavers for which the Ministry holds data is 2022, meaning that these people studied in 2022 but
did not study in 2023.
Table 1: Median repayment time by level of study and year
Level of study
Last year of study
2005
2010
2015 2020 2022
Level 1-4 certificates
7.3
7.1
6.4
6.1
5.9
Level 5-7 certificates/diploma
6.7
6.5
6.3
5.8
5.4
Bachelor’s degree, graduate certificates, and
6.5
6.0
6.3
6.7
5.8
diplomas
Postgraduate degrees
5.7
4.7
5.4
6.2
5.6
Please note: The data for 2005, 2010 and 2015 leavers are measurements, while those for 2020 and 2022
are projections.
8 Gilmer Terrace, Levels Ground floor, 1, 2, and 6-14, Wellington
PO Box 1666, Wellington 6140 Phone: +64 4 463 8000
In response to
part two of your request, please see
Table 2 below, which shows the average living
cost borrowed in the years shown. The last full-year data available is for 2023.
Table 2: Average living cost amount borrowed per year
Year
Average living cost borrowed
2005
$3,835
2010
$3,832
2015
$4,181
2020
$5,842
2023
$7,416
Regarding
part three of your request, the Ministry does not hold information on the average tuition
costs paid by students, so I am refusing this part of your request under section 18(g) of the Act, as
the information requested is not held by the Ministry, and I have no grounds for believing that it is
either held by, or connected more closely with the functions of, another department or organisation
subject to the Act.
We do, however, report on the average course fees borrowed from the student loan scheme. The
last full-year data available is for 2023. Please see
Table 3 below, which shows the average
course fees borrowed per year per borrowing student.
Table 3: Average course fees borrowed per student and per year
Year
Average course fees borrowed
2005
$4,253
2010
$5,076
2015
$6,323
2020
$7,012
2023
$7,638
In response to all parts of your request, as the Ministry does not yet hold data for 2024, I am also
refusing this information under section 18(g) of the Act, as above.
OIA: 1343330
Data relating to financial support for students, as well as further breakdowns of data, are also
available in the respective editions of the Student Loan Annual Report, which can be found at:
https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/80898/2555.
You may also be interested in the published statistics relating to financial support for students,
including student loans, allowances and scholarships, which are available at:
https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/statistics/financial_support_for_students.
Please note, we may publish this response on our website after five working days. Your name and
contact details will be removed.
Thank you again for your email. You have the right to ask an Ombudsman to review my decision
on your request, in accordance with section 28 of the Act. You can do this by writing to
[email address] or to Office of the Ombudsman, PO Box 10152, Wellington 6143.
Nāku noa, nā
Shona Ramsay
Senior Manager, Tertiary System Performance Analysis
Te Pou Kaupapahere | Policy
OIA: 1343330
