The $71 million devoted to the Tertiary Education Commission could be better spent on other tertiary education needs, National Party Dunedin South candidate Dr Conway Powell says.
He was one of a series of political representatives who took part in the Great Tertiary Education Debate at the University of Otago College of Education auditorium in Union St on Friday.
More than 160 people, mainly tertiary students, attended the public debate, chaired by Prof Marian Simms, which was part of the latest national conference of the New Zealand Union of Students Associations.
Dr Powell said most of National's tertiary education policy had yet to be released but he shared the misgivings of some other National Party representatives over the amount of funding spent on the commission, a co-ordinating tertiary education body.
Another debate panelist, Tertiary Education Minister Pete Hodgson, said student participation in tertiary education had significantly increased.
The Labour-led Government had made changes to the funding system, partly to address some concerns about educational quality, with the performance-based research fund also intended to encourage quality research.
Green list MP Metiria Turei said tertiary education was a public good, not just a private good, and the whole tertiary system remained underfunded, with both students and staff adversely affected.
Otago University Students Association president Simon Wilson said he had been impressed by the lively debate, and the support for introducing a universal student allowance which had been shown by many smaller parties, including the Greens, the United Future party, the Alliance and the Maori Party.
