Tertiary students who risk losing access to loans for failing over half their papers over two years can appeal for leniency if they show they are pulling their weight, says Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce.
Mr Joyce was asked by his Labour opposite, Grant Robertson, in Parliament today why the Government had made changes to eligibility for student loans retrospective.
"It is one thing for the Government to introduce a requirement for students to pass more than half their course over two years, but to make it retrospective to include their performance in 2009 is demonstrably unfair," Mr Robertson said.
"In 2009, students were operating under a different set of rules and expectations and had no idea the Government was planning this approach."
He said it would create situations where students who enrolled in a university in 2009 and found that they could not cope and failed their courses, could be at a polytechnic this year and doing much better, but face losing their loan eligibility if they failed one paper.
Mr Joyce said the performance element was put in place to encourage students to make wise use of taxpayer-funded loan support and ensure those who weren't succeeding academically were not lumped with large debts without qualifications and little ability to repay them.
"With regard to commencing with 2009 data, we have acknowledged at the outset an element of retrospectivity, and we have made it clear that if students are showing strong progress this year, or have legitimate reasons for their past performances, then StudyLink has the discretion to consider their individual cases for having their student loans extended," Mr Joyce said.
Mr Robertson said some tertiary institutions were reporting that between 20 and 30 percent of their students were at risk of falling foul of the requirements for 2011.
"This will have a major impact on the funding that those institutions will receive, many of whom are already facing significant budget cuts."
Mr Joyce said if an institution was reporting that 20 percent of its students were at risk of losing loan support, it meant 20 percent were failing more than half their courses over two years.
He said at budget time there was a press release and questions and answers about the retrospectivity issue. Mr Robertson claimed any releases did not include question and answers.
