Financial Recipe for a Degree

The financial recipe for a degree that’s worth your investment in the fees:

Get good course advice – contact the staff at Student_Recruitment_and_Course_Advice; talk to the Faculty/Department/School directly; contact the University’s Careers_Service, an excellent source of information.

Worthwhile points to consider:

• Choosing the wrong course(s) can be costly over time.
• If you are not sure what you want to study, perhaps just do one or two courses over each trimester in the first year to get an idea of what’s involved in tertiary study and which subjects may interest you most. Work part time as well. (Not an option if you need to maintain full time status to receive the student allowance and/or student loan living costs)
• If you are studying full time, do less if necessary (ie. 3 courses per trimester not 4) as grades do matter. Your investment will be worth more with good grades.
• Trimesters are short: 6 weeks of lectures, 2 week break, 6 weeks of lectures – that’s it! Then it’s study break & exams. Staying focused and good time management are important keys to success.
• If you have taken a course and realize it’s not for you and/or you won’t pass it, then withdraw in time to get a refund. One can withdraw up until the end of the second week of lectures (you should have a fair idea if you have made the wrong choice by then).

After you’ve planned your course of study, it’s important to do the financial planning:

• How can you save for your tuition fees? Will you use the Student Loan? (interest free while studying and if you remain in NZ after graduating)
• Do you need to leave home to study? This is a significant extra cost. Living costs need to be carefully estimated and a budget drawn up at the start of the trimester to stay on track.
• How far ahead do you need to plan? Is it a 4 year or 5 year programme? Do you have to think about post graduate study?

Page Top

Case Scenarios:

• Best Case Scenario No. One
• Best Case Scenario No. Two
• WORST CASE SCENARIO

Financial Solution – Best Case Scenario No. 1:

Student can live at home and is lucky not to have to pay board. Uses the Student Loan to pay for fees only. Works full time over the summer holidays and has a small part time job during the academic periods. Saves as much as possible. Pays for books, notes, stationery etc from savings. Keeps personal spending to a modest amount for socializing, cellphone, clothes etc. Upon graduation, the student should have some savings to put towards fees. If parents can assist from their own savings then the student may be able to pay off most if not all of the Student Loan debt. No interest will have accrued on the loan; only the annual administration fee of $50.

Financial Solution – Best Case Scenario No. 2:

Student must leave home to go to University. Has to pay hostel or flatting costs as well as tuition fees. Uses the Student Loan for fees but tries to avoid claiming the living costs. Parental help, plus savings from summer work and a modest part time job during the academic period pays the living expenses. The student may need to claim the course related costs portion of the Student Loan ($1000) to assist with texts and course materials. Student Loan debt has therefore been minimized to tuition fees/course costs only. (Borrowing living costs more than doubles the debt) If it's unavoidable to borrow some living costs, one should try to minimize the amount claimed.

WORST CASE SCENARIO!

Student doesn’t plan ahead studywise or budgetwise. Fails a few courses, withdraws late from a few others. Adds a few thousand dollars in tuition fees to the Student Loan debt for nothing. Claims the $150 living costs of the Student Loan mostly to spend on ‘extras’, i.e. going out, buying clothes, CD’s. Eventually completes a degree with a poor transcript and large Student Loan debt of over $40,000 which will be very hard to pay off.