Cost of Studying in New Zealand
The primary cost associated with living as a student in New Zealand will be the tuition fee that one incurs during one’s stay in the country. Apart from the tuition, the house rent is the second most significant expense incurred by an international student. Apart from the tuition, the average international student has to spend about NZ $1250 on rent, groceries, cellular phone bills, and associated living costs per month. This is almost 60,000 indian rupees.
These additional costs are covered by students employing themselves in informal work (weekly wages), for 20 hours/week during the full time course period and 40 hours/week during the vacation period/ during holidays (One has to submit a list of holidays permitted by the university while applying for a student visa to allow full 40 hours of work during the holiday period).
This is true for most tertiary education courses except for PhD and Master’s degree by Research, where a student is allowed to work full time. It is also advantageous to PhD students in New Zealand as they pay the same tuition fee that a local pays, making fees for PhD courses much cheaper than your regular Graduate/Postgraduate and Master’s program.
Tuition fees for graduate international students can be quite steep in New Zealand, and can vary substantially between the nation’s eight universities. The cost of study varies from the undergraduate degree to postgraduate degrees as well. Typically, an undergraduate degree costs between NZ$ 22,000 and NZ$ 32,000 per year with higher fee structure for subjects like medicine and veterinary science. Usually, Bachelor’s degree can be completed in three years. A postgraduate program costs between NZ$ 26,000 and NZ$ 37,000 per year with the higher fee structure for subjects like medicine and veterinary science. The International PhD students pay the same as national New Zealand PhD students, which is about NZ$ 6,500 to NZ$ 9,000 per year for most of the subjects.
On average, you might expect to pay the following in annual fees by subject area:
- Arts and social sciences: NZ $20,000
- Science and engineering: NZ $25,000
- Dentistry and medicine: NZ $75,000
Medical Expenses in New Zealand are also significantly higher than other countries and add significantly to the cost of living in New Zealand. This includes the prices of basic medicine such as cold medicine and antibiotics as well as the price of doctors’ and hospital fees (One time visit can be as expensive as NZ $45 -$85, while your basic wages are NZ $16.50/hour). It is therefore advisable that one has a very comprehensive insurance plan.
How do I save money while studying in New Zealand?
It’s much cheaper to buy fresh fruit and vegetables at local markets rather than the supermarket.Sharing food costs and cooking meals with your flatmates is another way of cutting costs – and it’s a nice way to get of getting to get acquainted with each other.
- Use your student ID card to get discounts
Most New Zealand tertiary education providers offer discounts to students at local stores, restaurants and entertainment outlets. You’ll need to use your student ID card to get the discounts, which range from cheap movie tickets to discounts on books and bank fees. Don’t be shy about asking for a discount – you won’t get it unless you ask for one!
New Zealanders are amazing recyclers and take pride in it. Buying household goods and clothing secondhand from charity shops – or op shops as they are called in New Zealand – is a great way of saving money. If you prefer to shop online you can find secondhand bargains on Trade Me – New Zealand’s answer to CraigsList.
If you’re living in a flat you’ll have to pay for your power. Usually you will share this cost with your flatmates. Power costs vary according to which energy retailer you use. You can compare the costs of different energy providers using Consumer Powerswitch.
Not many New Zealand homes have central heating – instead we use stand-alone electric or gas heaters. The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) has lots of useful tips on how to keep your heating costs down.
- Buy a bike – or start walking
Transport costs can eat up a lot of your money. Some cities, such as Christchurch and Hamilton, are very easy to cycle around so it’s worth buying a secondhand bike to use while you’re here.
Many New Zealand cities are relatively small and very walkable.