Govt to give $55m for extra university places

Steven Joyce. Photo / Daily Post

The Government will spend an additional $55 million over the next two years to meet demand for places at universities just three weeks after Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce ruled out more cash.

Mr Joyce said Cabinet this week agreed to the extra $55 million to create 1580 more undergraduate places next year and 1315 more in 2012.

He said the increase was good news for students and their families as well as the wider economy, "as the very significant increase we expect in the number of university graduates from 2013 will help create a strong platform to support future economic growth".

The new funding has been announced just three weeks after Mr Joyce, responding to universities' concerns around underfunding and the resulting caps placed on student numbers, said there was no more money for the sector.

Mr Joyce said the money became available through changes announced last week intended to lift the performance and accountability of industry training organisations as well as reprioritising underspending in that area.

"This shift in funding is part of this Government's push to get higher productivity out of the more than $4 billion we spend on tertiary education."

The shift also reflected the economic cycle, he said.

"As New Zealand recovers from recession there remains strong demand for full-time degree study and less demand for industry-based training. That trend will likely start to reverse again over the next few years."