This post by David Do and Pene Delany, NZUSA Co-Presidents, is the fifth in our series of guest posts from sector groups on the 2010 Budget. You can access the others in our featured posts sidebar.

Increased access, quality and support have long been priorities for students. They will be watching the Budget with interest, hoping these areas will be enhanced, yet cautious that these key dimensions of the tertiary system may be under threat.

Students are not alone in wanting to see a public tertiary education system that is of high quality, is genuinely accessible, sees students graduate without large debts, and that meets the needs of our society and economy. The ongoing challenge is whether government policy helps or hinders the achievement of these goals.

The current drought in Auckland and Northland provides a useful metaphor for tertiary funding. We seem to be swimming in circles around the same, shrinking, pool of water. At some point we need some rain. Will the drought be broken?

Unfortunately, the signals have been drip fed so much that what is likely to be announced will be unsurprising to many. While last year’s Budget saw cuts in funding for polytechnics, staff salaries, and student scholarships, this year’s Budget seems likely to be all about shifting money around in the same pot.

With graduation season in full swing around the country, institutions have highlighted inspirational stories of graduates who rose up through the system despite encountering many barriers. Upcoming Budget decisions need to ensure the tertiary system will continue to allow future students like them to also succeed. Unfortunately, worrying signals have already been given in the Budget areas of fees, loans, and sectoral funding.

Part time and adult students may end up caught in the proposed lifetime limit on loans, as well as those who may be staircasing or needing to do further qualifications, and new restrictions on student loans for permanent residents will see many blocked from necessary study.

Capped funding has led to some institutions moving to shut their doors to new enrolments. Students will want to know if the quality of their education can be maintained and whether essential academic and pastoral support will be continued in a tighter funding environment.

High and rising tuition fees are a barrier to education for many, and this needs to be remedied, not exacerbated. Rumoured relaxing of the current fee maxima policy is therefore particularly concerning, and is neither a fair nor appropriate solution to the problem of historic under funding in the sector, and more creative and sustainable policies are needed.

The message of ‘no more new money’ and therefore no increase in overall funding to the sector has been made loud and clear by this government. The challenge, they say, is to simply do more with less. However, the simple fact is that you can’t always make something out of nothing, and there’s a limit to how much one can ‘sweat the business’ at an institutional level.

What puzzles students is how calls for restraint and lowering public expectations help deliver the government’s vision for a world-leading education system offering “greater prosperity, security and opportunity for all New Zealanders”. The Government says it wants to close the gap with Australia – but when it comes to investing in tertiary education we continue to fall behind.

We can only hope that beyond this Budget, the Government will increase investment and move away from reactionary and short sighted policies to a well resourced system delivering quality education, contributing to a sustained economic improvement and recovery for all.