Extra hardship funding may go to Massey students

Some extra aid from a recent top up to the Hardship Fund for Learners may be coming to Massey students soon. 

The Government decided earlier this month that $20 million more would be enough to soothe the struggling student masses. The gesture disappointed both NZUSA and parliament’s go-to young person Chlöe Swarbrick, who views it as another inadequate response to the issue of students struggling with income under lockdown. 

“Inequities are rampant in Hardship Fund for Tertiary Institutions. From how it's allocated, the application process, to the fact that just 5% of students would be able to get support anyway,” Swarbrick said on Twitter. 

To date the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) has not shared how it plans to distribute the meagre funding to tertiary institutions. A Massey spokesperson said that when this becomes clear then they will be able to begin working on how to use the money. 

“Once we know how much TEC might be providing and any funding conditions, we will be considering additional initiatives in collaboration with student representatives,” they said. 

According to Massey’s spokesperson, Massey’s scheme budget has cost the University more than its initial TEC funding and they have coughed up $500k of their own funding to cover the rest. 

“Massey has received more than 3,000 applications for hardship grants, and almost $600,000 of hardship support has been granted to students – either through grant payments or loan devices. Further grants are still to be processed and we expect to pay out somewhere in the order of $1-1.5 million worth of support,” they said.