Cost Of Education Races Ahead Of Inflation

Media Release
Tertiary Education Union
17 April 2013

Cost Of Education Races Ahead Of Inflation

Statistics New Zealand released its Consumer Price Index inflation statistics today and revealed that the cost of tertiary education rose four times as fast as CPI for other goods and services. While CPI for the year to March rose 0.9 percent, the cost of tertiary education rose 3.8 percent.

TEU national president Lesley Francey says that growing cost of tertiary education risks excluding students from the opportunity to learn.

“Students need to borrow more and take on more debt to learn, and for some that is simply not viable.”

It is not just tertiary education where the cost is becoming more prohibitive - early childhood education (2.5 percent), primary and secondary (4.7 percent) and other education (4.9 percent) are all also rising in cost much faster than CPI.

“In every instance this is because the government is choosing to treat public education as a cost it needs to pay rather than an investment in New Zealanders,” said Lesley Francey.

“We believe that all people have a right as citizens to an education. Education gives the power to change people’s lives, and the opportunities a community needs to thrive. It improves health, democracy, culture, and equality in our communities.”

“So it’s not fair when hundreds of thousands of our students and future students are burdened with huge debts, or worse, miss the opportunity to learn because of the threat of debts they cannot afford,” said Lesley Francey.

ENDS