Students missing out on rebates

Universities have been accused of ‘knowingly keeping money they aren’t entitled to’, writes Ged Cann.

UNIVERSITIES are sitting on up to $200,000 in unclaimed student fee rebates because many students don’t know how to ask for the cash back.

Hundreds of students enrolled at Victoria and Otago Universities were charged the full Student Services Levy, which covers counselling, health services, financial advice and student advocacy. Many were unaware they could get some of the money back as a rebate if they applied for it.

In the past year Otago University recorded almost $200,000 in unclaimed rebates and Victoria University said it couldn’t say how many eligible students were missing out.

The SSL is compulsory and usually amounts to between $500-800 for full-time internal students.

Last year the Victoria University levy was $718 with various rebates available, including for students completing only trimester three or those studying one trimester to complete their degree.

Ex-Victoria University of Wellington Students’ Association president Rick Zwaan said he requested a refund in his final trimester but was told it couldn’t be processed until the degree was marked as complete.

‘‘I thought this would be a straightforward process, but . . . they kind of made it as difficult as possible. It should have been an automated process.’’

While Zwaan believed student services were good at Victoria, his biggest concern was other eligible students might not know they were entitled to a rebate.

‘‘It’s not advertised or made explicit at all.’’

He said the levy was being treated as a backstop for funding services such as Te Putahi Atawhai, which offers support for Maori and Pasifika students.

‘‘To my mind this is a really core university service, it should come out of the core university budget.’’

Zwaan eventually received a $359 rebate, which he said equated to two weeks’ rent or five weeks’ food in a student budget.

‘‘The concern is the university is knowingly keeping money that they aren’t really entitled to.’’

A Victoria University spokesman said he could not put a figure on how many students eligible for rebates had not received them a because there were so many different categories it would take too long to collate.

‘‘All Student Services Levy revenue (including funds that may have been applied for in rebates but have not) is ringfenced and is only spent on the government-specified service categories.’’

Ministry of Education spokeswoman Claire Douglas said universities were responsible for managing their own procedures and processes – including the rules for fee refunds.

‘‘Under the legislation they are expected to make students aware of their fee procedures.

‘‘No money collected for the Compulsory Student Services Fees can be spent on anything other than support services,’’ she said.’’