Also the only students still allowed to enrol…

International student enrolments at tertiary institutions have increased by seven per cent since 2009, Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce reported last Wednesday.

In his press release, Joyce says he will spend the next few months focusing on continuing the growth of the international sector.

“International education contributes more than $2 billion in total to our economy each year—further development of the sector will bring real benefits in terms of economic growth plus additional income to allow our tertiary institutions to grow.”

This statement follows the early closure of enrolments at a number of New Zealand universities due to insufficient government funding. Both Victoria and Massey have continued to allow enrolments from international students, whose fees are not subsidised by the government.

As reported in Salient earlier this year, Victoria’s University Council has approved a three- to seven-per cent fee increase for international students across most programmes in 2011.