Thursday, November 23, 2017
TERTIARY students will be better off by $50 a week from the start of next year.
From January 1, 2018, student allowance base rates and the maximum amount students can borrow for living costs will rise by a net $50 a week. The change will affect more than 130,000 students in full-time study. For the time being, post-graduate students will remain ineligible for allowances.
Education Minister Chris Hipkins said allowance payments for single students aged under 24 and living away from home would rise from $177.03 to $227.03. The maximum amount that students could borrow would rise from $178.81 to $228.81.
The accommodation benefit will also rise by $20 to a maximum of $60 a week for students.
There will be no change to eligibility criteria for allowances.
The promise to increase the student allowance and the weekly student loan was part of Labour’s 100-day plan.