By STACEY BODGER
Otago University has turned up the heat on its tertiary competitors by being the first to accept a Government funding boost in exchange for freezing its fees next year.
A deal presented in the Budget, worth $30.5 million next year, has given tertiary institutions the option of a 2.3
per cent funding rise if they keep fees at this year's level.
Otago University's council says it will accept the supplementary funding if the Government's formal offer - expected next week - matches that promised in the Budget.
Its decision will force the hand of other institutions, which face losing students to cheaper competitors if they reject the funding offer.
A spokeswoman for the Auckland University of Technology, which was one of the first institutions to indicate it would accept, said yesterday that it was still in favour of the funding.
More than 100 private tertiary training institutions have also said they will accept.
Auckland University's deputy vice-chancellor, Professor Raewyn Dalziel, said its council would wait for the Government's formal offer before making a decision.
"But after Otago's announcement, we are mindful that we need to make a decision to allow next year's students to choose where they will study," she said.
A spokeswoman for Massey University said a decision was imminent.
Other educators indicated that they were also awaiting the formal offer.
Tertiary institutions have complained that they will lose money by accepting the offer because it amounts to an increase of only 1.5 to 1.9 per cent across their overall funding base.
Otago's vice-chancellor, Dr Graeme Fogelberg, said it would be impossible for the university to sustain the freeze beyond next year, unless there was a very significant rise in Government funding.
University Students' Association co-president Sam Huggard said institutions had a moral obligation to "cut the suspense" and inform students of their intentions for next year.
