Tertiary students have generally taken a dim view of today's budget, saying it fails to address growing problems including student debt.
The package included lifting the student loan living cost component $5 to $155 a week, increasing the parental income threshold 10 per cent from next year andlowering the age limit for those students one year to 24.
There was $130.8 million for operating funding and $24.4 million in capital funding over four years for the tertiary sector.
The New Zealand Union of Students' Associations (NZUSA) said the budget only offered some relief for a "lucky few".
"This budget shows no forward thinking or meaningful change in policy development and is virtually maintaining the inadequate status quo," said NZUSA co-president Paul Falloon.
"The movements in parental income thresholds today are merely tinkering and will barely be noticed by many students."
NZUSA advocated for the introduction of a universal student allowance as the only sustainable solution to the student debt problem.
The Auckland University Students' Association (AUSA) called the tertiary budget a "bad joke".
AUSA president David Do said students were disappointed the Government had failed to show leadership in addressing the $10 billion student debt problem.
"This $5 increase is a bad joke - that's equal to two pies a week," Mr Do said of the increased loan allowance.
"It's a tokenistic insult to students who are forced to borrow to live because they are under 25 and their parents are deemed `too rich'."
Mr Do said money would have been far better off being allocated to increasing access to student allowances in a meaningful way.
Meanwhile, the Association of University Staff (AUS) has welcomed the allocation of $15 million to support recruitment and retention initiatives intended to increase the international competitiveness of New Zealand universities.
AUS president Maureen Montgomery said significant gains had been made in recent budgets towards addressing funding and salary problems, but more momentum was needed.
A large funding increase in Australia made that more urgent.
