International students at the University of Otago face fee hikes of up to 5% next year, despite concerns from student association representatives the increase might put prospective overseas scholars off coming to Dunedin.
University Council members yesterday voted to back a recommendation from international pro-vice chancellor Prof Sarah Todd to increase course fees across three categories of international enrolments.
International students enrolling in dentistry, health science and medicine courses will be hit hardest by the fee increases - with those areas of study also the most popular among overseas students as a whole.
Fees for most university papers have been subject to more "modest" increases of between 1% and 3.5% - a move designed to try to entice more overseas students into undergraduate and postgraduate study, Prof Todd said.
Overseas representatives from international universities had been in touch shortly after Monday's earthquakes to check if their Dunedin-based students had been affected because of the city's proximity to Christchurch, Prof Todd said.
University Council student representative Jonathon Rowe said the fee increases and the high New Zealand dollar would affect the affordability for international students and potentially put them off Otago as a destination.
The natural disaster in Christchurch was also likely to lessen some students' desire to travel here and their parents' willingness to let them come, Prof Todd said.
International student figures rose to 2649 last year - about 12% of the overall student body at Otago.
A review of the fee increases had taken into account Otago's positioning in relation to New Zealand's other universities, demand patterns for different programmes and a "strategic objective" of increasing the number of postgraduate students, Prof Todd said.
Several other factors which were out of the university's control, such as cost-related increases in compulsory insurance premiums for international students, had also been taken into account as part of the fees review, Prof Todd said.
Otago University Students' Association representative Katie Reid said the association was opposed to all fee increases for students.
