Dunedin students on the accommodation benefit will get $51 help from the Government, up from $40 in last year’s Budget.
The increase would not make a significant difference to the lives of students, but the association was appreciative of any additional help, Mr Baird said.
"At the moment we have got students going without food and haircuts. It’s very hard for students to make ends meet, even if they are working."
The benefit, which was given to students experiencing housing stress, would increase by $20 in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.
Dunedin’s funding was not enough and did not target the right student group, Mr Baird said.
"Given 33% of students are on that benefit, it is a very small amount for a small group.‘‘Personally, I would like to see it increase for all of the student population."
At present, students not eligible for the student allowance could borrow $178.81 a week.
Otago University Students Association student support manager Sage Burke said the funding in yesterday’sbudget was a start, but did not replace the need for a total review of government student support.
This month, OUSA had given out about 40 food parcels, Mr Burke said.
The tertiary sector received a $132.1 million boost in the budget.
Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Paul Goldsmith said the investment would help develop a "world-class tertiary education system".
The Performance-Based Research Fund to incentivise quality tertiary research would receive about $53 million over four years and tuition for qualifications level three and above would get about $70 million for subsidy rates.
New Zealand’s international education sector would receive $6.8 million over the next four years.
An additional $81.9 million would be given to the Endeavour Fund, New Zealand’s largest high-risk science research group.
University of Otago acting vice-chancellor Prof Vernon Squire said it was too early to tell what the financial gain from the Budget would be, but he anticipated it would be "several million dollars for 2018".
"From an Otago perspective, this is definitely a good news budget for research."
The university was disappointed by a 1% rate increase for teaching tuition subsidies. The increase, the first since 2012, was "well below inflation".
Otago Polytechnic chief executive Phil Ker said the institution welcomed the boost to the Performance Based Research Fund because Otago
got the second-highest figure for New Zealand polytechnics.
About $40 million would go to strategic science research to reduce the risk to life from natural disasters and explore the Antarctic.
The funding would enable researchers to communicate hazards information to the public on a 24-7 basis when needed, Mr Goldsmith said.
The science research funding was part of a $255.6 million investment in the science and innovation sectors over the next four years.