Tripped at the first hurdle: fees-free changes could put some students off tertiary study altogether

The door to tertiary education will likely close for some students now changes have kicked in for the fees-free policy.

In 2017, the Labour government introduced a fee holiday for students’ first year of academic study, or two years of training in a work-based setting. This was meant to help those who had been put off tertiary study because of the cost. It was also intended to boost the number of people going into higher education.

But students who started university or other tertiary training in 2025 will instead have to wait until their final year for the fees holiday under a policy change by the current coalition government.

According to Tertiary Education Minister Penny Simmonds, the goal was to incentivise “hard working learners, businesses and tertiary providers” and help those “most in need of support to access tertiary education and training”.

However, my research suggests the change will likely compound existing inequalities in access to tertiary education for students from low-income backgrounds.

Through repeated in-depth interviews with students throughout their first year of study, I examined the impact of the fees free policy on their attitudes and behaviours. What I found is for students from low-income backgrounds, the policy is going to make entering study harder.

Fees free as an entry point

My study focused on ten students from low-income backgrounds or who were first in their family to undertake tertiary study. They were interviewed three times: on enrolment, mid-year and at the end of their first year.

Five of the ten students said they could not have imagined beginning their studies without the first year fees-free support. One student said,

If it had cost, I wouldn’t have gone.

Another said,

I don’t think I would have [studied], to be honest.

And a third said,

I’m definitely not one to have debt. No, I don’t think I would have [studied].

The students in my study were also worried about the debt associated with a student loan. As of December 2024, the total student loan debt in New Zealand was around NZ$15.6 billion, with the median loan balance being $17,949.

One student said she did not want the debt from a student loan. Another commented,

It was always the thought that, oh, uni, there’s a massive student loan that you’re going to end up with later down the line. I don’t want to end up stuck in debt and then, you know, never be able to pay off things like that.

A third said,

It’s daunting because it was only recently that my mum’s paid off her student loan or her debt.

Throughout the interviews, the students suggested other changes that could help how low-income students approached tertiary study.

These included improving access to career education advice, assistance and mentoring in navigating the tertiary environment (including application processes), and increased health and wellbeing support.

The participants in this study found it difficult to access help with scholarship and enrolment applications. One student commented,

[High school staff] were very passionate about people to go to uni so it looked good on their reports, but not like helping people apply or anything like that. So it was quite one sided.

Another student was frustrated with trying to navigate Studylink, the student loan and assistance provider. She said,

I don’t know why [Studylink] make it so hard for everybody.

It was difficult for low-income and first-in-family students to communicate with their families about their struggles. One student said,

Coming from a low-income family meant I was the first in my family to attend tertiary study. It was hard to communicate to my family the struggles of tertiary education and I found it difficult to connect with them and feel like they understood my experience.

Ongoing unequal access

Despite the fees free policy, there has been a persistent disparity in the background of students who go on to study at university or other tertiary institutions.

In 2021, the proportion of students undertaking tertiary study from decile one schools (those with the highest number of students from low-income backgrounds) was under 4%. The proportion from decile 10 schools was closer to 16%. (The decile system has since been replaced by the Schooling Equity Index).

Regardless of the fees free programme’s original goals, the percentage of students accessing tertiary education from the schools with the lowest five deciles has decreased from 38% in 2017 to 28% in 2021. At the same time, the number of students from the highest five decile schools has increased from 62% to 72%.

Improving access for students

Research in 2019 and 2020 revealed that students who were more influenced by the fees-free policy may need extra support to complete qualifications and have a successful tertiary experience.

The students who were more influenced by the fees-free policy were approximately 1.67 times more likely to struggle during the transition to university and show an interest in early departure within the first few weeks of study.

My study suggests free fees in the first year allowed students from low-income families to feel they had a right to study.

Rather than being a reward for students at the end of their study, it is more likely the shift of the fees-free year will discourage low-income students from taking the risk to commit to study at the tertiary level.