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We have had a few emails from prospective students about the cuts in courses like our Certificate in Aesthetics for 2010, so I felt it adequate to discuss this a little bit more in our blog to help outline the reasons why these sorts of cuts have had to happen.
Incidentally, we received a letter from the Tertiary Education Commission yesterday with regards to this very matter — all providers would have received something similar — so I will take this opportunity to quote from TEC’s letter to support our stance.
As many of us are aware, not only New Zealand but also many countries around the world experienced an economic downturn over the last year or so. During this time, governments like ours have faced a downturn in revenue and upturn in expenditure. This has led to some tough choices in tertiary education funding, and, indeed, in funding for various different key areas such as health, education and so on.
TEC explains, in their letter dated 1 December 2009, “overall funding levels for tertiary education are constrained, and this is unlikely to change for the foreseeable future”. They add, “The Government [has indicated funding will be] unlikely to change significantly in the current financial climate” and “while there are signals that the recession is coming to an end, this is unlikely to translate into additional money for the Government for some years. Therefore the need to control costs and enrolments across the tertiary education sector is paramount.”
In light of this, TEC has urged all tertiary education providers to reduce their enrolments into a narrow band between 97% and 103% of their funding allocation.
In late 2008, before the full brunt of the economic downturn was known, TEC approved our 2009 Plan (the agreement between TEC and us that determines our funding) at 140% of our allocation. While we did have the opportunity to reach this level — and it is important to note, if a provider goes above 100% of their funding allocation, they only receive 100% and not a penny more — the Board of Directors decided to keep levels comfortable but manageable; this meant in 2009 we hit around the 115% mark.
This year, in discussions with TEC about our 2010 Plan, they pointed out that while they approved 140% in our 2009 Plan, they didn’t approve going to that level (a cop-out in my humble opinion — you either approve something or you don’t — but that’s a subject of another blog entirely). In light of this, TEC required all providers over 103% to make moves down to that level in 2010 and the future.
While TEC does not fund above 100%, the Student Loan system remains available for those students above that 100%. The more students above that 100%, the more burden the Student Loan system faces. (I have another opinion about how to fix the Student Loan system; alas, that’s the subject of yet another blog all together.)
Therefore, our 2010 Plan needed to reflect an earnest move towards that 103%. This meant course like the Certificate in Aesthetics, offered in 2009, could not go ahead in 2010 as they were deemed “not vital”. Our full time courses, such as the Diploma in Beauty Therapy and Applied Aesthetics and Diploma in Spa Therapies, were more vital, and funding was allocated to those courses as our first priorities.
TEC has hinted the Government will be moving to a more limited Government-funded and higher student-funded system in 2011, and this system may have more flexibility in what providers like ours can and can’t offer course-wise. We obviously await to hear news of how this system will work, especially in light that providers like ours have not been able to raise their fees for the last 10 years or so, while inflation has increased by 30% in that time.
In the meantime, we apologise for any inconvenience this causes prospective students interested in different course options with us, and we encourage those prospective students to contact us to see if there are any other options we can offer them that may help them achieve their goals.
Scott Fack is the Director of Operations for The National School of Aesthetics, the South Island’s leading beauty therapy, nail technology and spa therapies training provider.