Salient

Budget 2008: Students get less shat on by the Government

By Seonah Choi | 26 May, 2008

The Government announced a tertiary student support package worth $130.8 million in operational funding and $24.4 million in capital funding over four years in its 2008 Budget released last Thursday.

Among the initiatives last week include a 10 per cent increase in the parental threshold for a full student allowance, set to benefit 12,000 students a year, as well as an increase in the maximum student loan living costs component, from $150 per week to $155 per week.

The age limit for student allowances’ parental income testing is also set to be lowered from 25 to 24, and a 50 per cent expansion of the Bonded Merit Scholarship Scheme is planned, increasing the total number of scholarships to 1,500 each year.

“With this Budget, the lot of the individual student continues to improve,” Tertiary Education Minister Pete Hodgson said.

Hodgson added that the measures announced last week will build on the Government’s previous initiatives targeted at tertiary education students.