Popularity tax: Canterbury Uni branded ‘unethical’ over fee to apply for student halls
Tuesday, 7 November 2023
The University of Canterbury has been accused of “monetising popularity” by charging students $100 to apply for a place at a halls of residence - regardless of whether they get accepted or not.
Some students have deemed the unique charge “unethical”, saying tenants of other properties don’t have to pay for a rental application.
Universities in Otago, Wellington, Waikato and Auckland do not charge for applying for a place in halls.
The University of Canterbury is experiencing a year of record enrolment while the tertiary sector grapples with redundancies and financial hardship.
The university confirmed it received 3451 applications for next year’s intake of student accommodation, for which it has 2726 places. Approximately 2100 of those are set specifically for first-year students - earning the university hundreds of thousands of dollars in administration fees.
When applying for a place in one of the university’s 10 halls, where costs range between $11,578 to $26,083 per year, new applicants are required to pay a non-refundable $100 application fee.
Canterbury postgraduate student Brett Parker-Western said it was “ridiculous”.
“Tenants don’t need to pay a fee to apply to rent a house, and students shouldn’t be paying to apply to get into a hall.”
Second year student Kate Paterson, who lived in a Canterbury student hall last year, said “the fronting fee seems like just another grab for money”.
Her student accommodation cost $417 a week last year, which covered rent, food, power and wi-fi. “It’s considerably more than what you pay living in a flat environment.”
Paterson said university halls are seen as “imperative” in order to make friends, and because people don’t want to miss out on the social side of study, students spend “every extra dollar that the halls ask for”.
“Considering that the cost of living is so high right now, a fee just to make an extra buck off every student that applies, regardless of whether or not they get into the hall, just seems really unethical.”
A parent of a prospective first-year student, who The Press agreed not to name, said their son was not required to pay a fee when applying for halls in Otago or Wellington, which is why it felt “unfair” that Canterbury charged.
“They are popular at the moment, and this seems to me like they are monetising it,” they said.
Vice-chancellor professor Cheryl de la Rey previously said the University of Canterbury was on track to surpass a record 23,000 students in 2023.
None of the University of Otago, Victoria University of Wellington, University of Waikato, Lincoln University, University of Auckland and Massey University charge a fee to make an accommodation application.
A University of Canterbury spokesperson said a cost was charged regardless of whether an applicant was offered a place or not, to cover the administration costs.
“This cost, and the fact that it is non-refundable, is made clear at the start of the application process.”
The university has a team of six people dedicated to the process due to needing to “process large numbers of applications within a tight deadline, along with specialised software and other IT and infrastructure”.
The fee has been in place for the past five years, and has remained the same price since it was introduced.
If successful, students then each pay a minimum $300 administration fee and minimum $200 residents’ association fee on top of their hall and application costs.
The spokesperson said the university has students on a waiting list and will continue to place students as vacancies arise.