Progressives to repay student loans for 3 years
Progressives to repay student loans for at least three years
The Progressive party begin an advertising campaign on Sunday on a policy of meeting student loan repayments for at least three years after graduation, provided students work in New Zealand after graduation.
Progressive leader Jim Anderton announced the policy today, the second in a series the party is campaigning on. Last Thursday Progressive announced a policy to reduce business tax rates to thirty cents in the dollar.
“We want our best and brightest to remain in New Zealand and contribute their skills to New Zealand. Progressive wants to encourage education, not penalise it,” Jim Anderton said.
“We need to keep our best and brightest here.
“Reducing student debt for students who decide to work in New Zealand will ease the business skill shortage and keep more students home where we need them.
“Progressive wants to encourage our young people to own homes and raise families in New Zealand. We can build on New Zealand’s prosperity over the last five years to lock in continued strong growth and a more hopeful future for young New Zealanders.”
Under the policy, each year for at least three years that a student remains working in New Zealand after they graduate, the government will meet the standard ten cents in the dollar loan repayment. The existing policy would be kept in place for students who left New Zealand or who wanted to pay off their debt faster.
Currently it takes an average student 9.3 years to repay their loan. At the moment, the total repaid by students each year through their loan repayments is $400.7 million.
Over time Progressives want the scheme to
meet repayments for ten years, which would be sufficient to
pay off the entire loan, making education free for students
who returned the investment by contributing to New
Zealand.
http://www.progressive.org.nz
EDITORS NOTE
The Progressive Party has a policy of free tertiary education, including no fees and universal student allowances. We campaign for any moves that can be made towards that goal.
FULL POLICY STATEMENT AVAILABLE AT: http://www.progressive.org.nz/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1334