Victoria University to increase tuition fees by 6% from next year

Monday, 8 September 2025

Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington’s domestic tuition fees will rise by 6% from next year, while students continue to grapple with the cost of living.

The university’s council voted to increase fees by the maximum set by the Government in the Annual Maximum Fee Movement (AMFM).

It also voted to increase Student Service Fess by 5% per academic point for 2026.

The council paper noted Government funding for the tertiary sector had changed for next year with a time-limited 4% funding increase which was in place in 2024 and 2025, ending.

The reduction had been offset by increases for certain subject areas, primarily in science, teaching, architecture and design, engineering and mathematics.

For the university, it resulted in an overall cut in government funding rates of about 1.5% at time of continuing inflation, it said.

A substantial portion of its students took arts and humanities courses but they were areas largely ignored by successive government budgets which prioritised funding in science, medicine and technology.

The university had the lowest tuition fees in undergraduate humanities and social sciences and the second lowest in education for the last two decades, further exacerbated by the government cap on increases. It had created an accumulated difference and comparative shortfall of revenue of about $30 million “and growing”, it said.

The drop in student numbers in 2022 and 2023 due to Covid-19 continued to have an impact. While students numbers had increased in 2024 and 2025, they were still below pre-pandemic levels.

The level of surplus in its Budget continued to be “well below the 3% level considered prudent”, it said.

Vice-Chancellor Nic Smith said decisions about tuition fees were never taken lightly and the university was “very mindful of the pressures many of our students are already under” and the impact the rising cost of living had on students.

“At the same time, tuition fees are a critical part of ensuring we can maintain the quality of teaching, research, and level of student support that our community expects and our country needs,” Smith said.

It would continue to work with students, staff and the Government to find ways to reduce barriers and make the university as accessible and sustainable as possible, he said.

“We are committed to balancing affordability for students with the need to safeguard the long-term quality of education and support services that are essential to student success.”

Students ‘just barely’ getting by

Meanwhile, one first-year student at the university said most of her friends chose not to attend this year because of the cost and knew of two people who had dropped out in their first year because it was too expensive.

Mars Northcroft, 18, moved from Taupō and had been saving for university since she was 15 but was already “just barely” getting by.

She had maxed out her student loan and the debt was “scary” to think about.

“It’s pretty tough just getting by … the student allowance weekly doesn’t really help cover much of any of my costs.”

Northcroft paid $520 a week for student accommodation and despite applying for part-time work, had not been successful so far.

“[It’s] a very common experience from everyone else I've talked to, everyone's struggling to get jobs.”

She was currently flat hunting with friends but would likely need to get the bus next year and thinking about the cost of rent, food and public transport was “stressful”, she said.