Students in the Dark as Course Fees Jump by Six Percent

By Dan Moskovitz 

The trend of ‘everything getting more expensive, all of the time’ is set to continue, with Vic’s tuition fees rising by six percent next year. 

By law universities have caps on how much they can raise fees each year. Between 2018 and 2024 said cap varied between 2 and 2.8%. 2025’s cap? Six percent. Subsequently, course fees are rising six percent this year as voted on by the University Council last week, because of course they are.

Vic’s financial situation is admittedly precarious. A briefing by the Tertiary Education Commission, released under the OIA, revealed Vic is considered a financially ‘high-risk’ institution. So fee rises were expected. 

What wasn’t expected was how the move blindsided VUWSA, who were not consulted whatsoever.

This was in stark contrast to the student levy fee increase, which according to University Council student rep William Bell-Purchas involved months of consultation. Different options and their impacts were looked at; the eventual rise had VUWSA’s seal of approval. By way of contrast, both VUWSA President Liban Ali and Bell-Purchas found out about the six percent rise shortly before it was voted on. 

“Universities aren’t legally required to consult students, but on the things which are really important, they’ve been doing it all year with us,” said Ali. “So it was weird for them to move away from the norm for this specific, really massive thing. I was very annoyed.”

“It’s a trust relationship. We’ve randomly taken this massive detour from something we should have informed our student body about. I don’t want to speculate, but I think the surprise made it easier for them to not get any pushback from students.” 

While the university doesn’t have to consult on fee increases, the government does when mandating the maximum allowable fee increase. A university spokesperson told Salient they would in future ensure VUWSA and students were aware of the government’s consultation period, but did not promise consultation with students before raising its own fees. 

Both Bell-Purchas and Ali laboured the point that while the university should have consulted students, ultimate blame lay with the government for its underfunding of the tertiary sector. 

“We're going to get to a point where they start to cut back on the humanities because we won't be able to afford to fund those as much,” said Ali. 

A university spokesperson confirmed much of what Ali and Bell-Purchas said. 

“For 2026, the government has removed funding and has instead set targeted increases for certain subject areas, primarily science, teaching, architecture and design, engineering and mathematics. 

“Students taking arts and humanities courses represent a substantial portion of our total students, so the impact of this change in funding is significant. It also comes at a time when inflation is high, and costs are higher for our students, staff, and suppliers. 

“Overall, this situation has created a significant shortfall of revenue compared to other universities in New Zealand who are able to charge higher tuition fees for these subjects.”

Minister for Universities Shane Reti did not respond to Salient requests for comment.