Students are to Dunedin what Instagram is to a tween: #important. Or, as the ODT wittily put it, Dunedin is New Zealand’s Detroit, if postgraduate and international student numbers are compared to car manufacturers: lose them and the economy loses, too.
University of Otago lecturer Paul Hansen said, “It could be that young people in general are questioning the value of further investment in their education – weighing up the costs (e.g. fees and foregone income while they study) against the benefits of getting a university degree. Perhaps the balance has shifted away from a degree being as good an investment as it used to be. Perhaps going to university isn’t seen as being as fun as it used to be?”
Due to the number of student enrollments falling since its peak in 2010, universities may begin to suffer. “If student numbers keep falling, the financial pressure on the University will increase. Fewer students mean less income.”
Green MP Holly Walker believes the drop in postgraduate enrollments is related to the Government’s cuts to student allowances for postgraduate students. “Declining student numbers are bad news for universities and for the country as a whole,” Walker told Critic. “The universities need postgraduate students to attract funding and boost their research reputation, and they won’t be happy if the downward trend continues.” Hence Walker’s doomed Members Bill to undo this legislation, covered in last week’s Critic.
Dunedin – New Zealand’s Detroit
A less exciting metaphor than you’d think.
