NZ Med Students Rejoice - You Can Get Into Three More Years of Debt

Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today that the student loan cap for those at medical school or other long undergraduate courses will be boosted to 10 years.

Previously, the cap for borrowing sat at seven years, a measure introduced by the National government in 2011. Those studying medicine were particularly hard-hit by the measure, with many caught hitting the limit a year or two out from graduation.

The change will come through on 1 January 2019, and apply to those studying medicine, dentistry, optometry or veterinary science.

Chayce Glass, Tumuaki of Te Oranga (the Māori Medical Student Association), told the NZ Herald he hoped more Māori would study medicine as a result of the change. He said around 20 percent of people affected by the cap were Māori. “Only 4 percent of doctors identify as Māori. So it's more about the long-term effects it was going to have on the health system if these guys couldn't graduate."

Back in May, med students spoke out about the ‘broken promise’ when the change wasn’t accounted for in the first Labour budget.

Medical Students Association president Jibi Kunnethedam told RNZ at the time that those most-affected were students who couldn’t get financial support from parents. Students did not want such degrees to remain accessible only for privileged people, he said.

Hipkins said in a statement that the government “had planned to remove this unfair barrier next year”.

“But after listening to feedback, and in keeping with our desire to reduce financial barriers to higher education and skills training, the Government has decided that all students in long undergraduate programmes will be eligible to borrow through the loan scheme.”

He estimated around 100 people will potentially benefit from the policy change next year, rising to around 130 in 2022. The change will cost $11.7 million over the next five financial years.