Brian Rudman: One man's dream a nightmare for poor students

Rates have gone up 10 per cent a year for the past three to help fund Mayor Len Brown's wish to create the most liveable city in the world. Photo / Sarah Ivey

As the Labour Party goes through its latest leader selection circus, could I suggest they avoid anyone who admits to having visions. We ordinary folk come off second best when the dreamers take over.

In Auckland they seem to be everywhere and look where it's got us. In my case, my rates have gone up 10 per cent a year for the past three to help fund Mayor Len Brown's wish to create the most liveable city in the world. Meanwhile, up the hill at the university, vice-chancellor Stuart McCutcheon, comfortably off on his $650,000-plus salary, has pushed through yet another annual 4 per cent student fee increase to help chase his dream of heading an elite " public university of global standing", to quote the university's strategic plan.

And if that means squeezing students until their last remaining cents dribble from their pockets, then for the greater good, why not.

Like Mr Brown and his great pyramid - the underground CBD rail link - Auckland University administrators take the view that if they can't persuade the Government or the private sector to come to the party, it is time to touch up those who have no choice in the matter. That it might be the vision itself that could be flawed, never comes up.

As one of those who gained a leisurely BA for "free" at Mr McCutcheon's ivory tower, well before the Rogernomics reforms that ushered in the new regime, I feel both guilty and angry at the burden of debt imposed on students since the late 1980s by politicians - and a society - too selfish to continue the free tertiary education system they had enjoyed.

Currently, New Zealand tertiary institutes collect about $900 million in domestic tuition fees. The University Students Association says the average loan debt of students is $24,405. By graduation it claims a third of students will owe more than $30,000.

Earlier this month, Lower Saxony became the last state in Germany to abolish tuition fees for university students. Introduced in Germany in 2006, they were phased out in recent years across the country following widespread protests. Which shows that repeal can be achieved where there is political will.

Last month, Professor McCutcheon celebrated Auckland University's slight rise from 94 to 92 in the 2014 QS World University Rankings by bemoaning the state of university funding in the country. Despite Auckland University's performance, he said, "the overall trend is one of continuing decline in rankings among New Zealand universities, reflecting the low per student investment by international standards in university education and research in this country". He said this was "very disappointing, and it runs the risk of negatively impacting our ability to attract international students who are now critical to the financial viability of universities" .

No doubt in his mind was that earlier in the year, Auckland University had slipped from about 150 to 200 in the Times Higher Education reputation scale rankings.

As other experts have pointed out, this doesn't necessarily mean New Zealand university standards are dropping. Other measures suggest a slight rise. It's more a case of the ranking systems taking note of the rise in the number and quality of other universities worldwide.

This is the rankings treadmill that Auckland University has leapt aboard.

Mr McCutcheon has been the indefatigable cheerleader - or should we say, shroud-waver. He warns of local students defecting to higher-ranking universities abroad if the university's ranking slip.

Defending the latest round of tuition fee increases, Universities NZ director Chris Whelan argued that universities had to raise fees, even if it deterred some students.

"The problem is that costs are rising faster than the fees, so over the last 10 years the government funding per student has risen by 27 per cent, fees themselves have increased by 36 per cent and at the same time university operating expenditure's gone up by 71 per cent," he said. "Universities have to cover their costs somehow."

Alternatively, the universities could always cut their costs. Instead of obsessing about world rankings, they could concentrate on continuing to provide a world-class education for the sons and daughters of New Zealand taxpayers at a price that doesn't leave the students in debt for years to come.