The University Council yesterday approved a 1.1% increase in all domestic tuition fees for 2021 compared with this year’s fees, the maximum allowed.
University chief financial officer Sharon van Turnhout’s report to the council shows the university is expecting a $17.3million loss in income from international tuition fees next year if Covid-19 border closures remain in place.
Ms van Turnhout said student achievement component funding would increase $4.9million.
But even with the maximum allowable fee increase, as domestic tuition fees brought in an added $2.5million, the university’s budgets would continue to be under pressure next year due to the impact of Covid-19, and would fail to meet the Tertiary Education Commission’s guidelines for group surpluses.
A "reasonable surplus" was required to help fund the university’s capital programme, which addressed compliance issues such as seismic strengthening.
Tuition fee costs for first-year domestic students, including the 1.1% increase, would be met by the Government under its fees-free first-year system, she said.
It was agreed next year’s compulsory student services fees would be $879 inclusive of GST, a 6% increase on this year.
This increase was required to compensate for the projected drop in equivalent full time students and to recover costs, Ms van Turnhout said.
Otago University Students’ Association president Jack Manning voted against the increases, citing an opposition to barriers to accessibility of education.
