Tertiary Education - Total active borrowers and new active borrowers 1992–2023

Source: Ministry of Social Development and Stats NZ IDI.

Changes to student support policy since 2010 that reduced access to student support have had an impact on the number of students using the loan scheme.

Equivalent full-time student (EFTS): A measure used to count tertiary student numbers. A student taking a normal year’s full-time study generates one ‘equivalent full-time student’ unit. Part-time or part-year students are fractions of a unit.
Borrower: Any person who has drawn from the Student Loan Scheme and not yet repaid in full.
Active borrower: Someone who is currently borrowing from the scheme. Active borrowers will be either studying for the first time or continuing with their study.

https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/224592/MoE_Student-Loan-Scheme-Annual-Report-2023_Web_2.pdf

In response to COVID-19, the following student support changes were made:
• The Ministry of Social Development was given discretion to continue paying student loans for a study break of up to eight weeks for students who remained enrolled but were unable to study due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
• Temporary increase to the maximum course related costs entitlement for students studying in 2020, from $1,000 to $2,000.
• Students receiving partial tuition fee refunds (from providers or through fee-protection mechanisms) due to discontinuation of study in 2020 as a result of COVID-19 will not have the EFTS of this study count towards their student loan life-time limit.
• a temporary Targeted Training and Apprenticeships Fund (TTAF) to support learners to undertake vocational education and training without fees from 1 June 2020 until 31 December 2022

At URL provided, select 'SLS 23/24 All Data Tables (XLS, 233.0 KB)' from the right-hand section.

This dataset relates to the Student Loan Scheme, including loan uptake, amount borrowed, loan balance, and repayment.

This is the supporting data for the Student Loan Scheme Annual Report 2023/24. The purpose of this annual report is to inform Parliament and the New Zealand public about the performance of the Student Loan Scheme in 2023/24. It also includes the audited financial schedules of the scheme for the year ending 30 June 2024.
The report describes how the loan scheme operates in the context of the New Zealand tertiary education system and the goals of the Tertiary Education Strategy; the contribution it makes in enabling greater access to, and participation in, tertiary education; and developments to the loan scheme and student support policy over time.
It also looks at the outcomes of the scheme and provides detailed information about borrowers and their lending and repayment patterns. Finally, the report gives a detailed financial analysis of costs and the valuation of the loan scheme.

The information on active borrowers and borrowers in study is largely drawn from the Ministry of Social Development (MSD). Inland Revenue has supplied data on the repayments, loan balances and borrower segments. Tertiary education data and information on borrowing in the years before 2000 were supplied by the Ministry of Education.
Other data has come from Stats NZ’s Integrated Data Infrastructure. Data from these sources is complemented by information drawn from the Census, the Household Labour Force Survey and other published data sources.