The Student Loan Scheme was introduced in 1992. It provides access to funding for course fees, course-related costs and living costs – so that students can defer paying for their share of the costs until the benefits of their study are realised in the income they earn. It is an income-contingent scheme, whereby repayments depend on the earnings of borrowers.

Since its establishment in 1992, more than a million people have used the Student Loan Scheme.

Three government agencies are involved in managing the scheme. These are Ministry of Education (responsible for strategic policy), the Ministry of Social Development (responsible for administration and delivery of student loans) and Inland Revenue (responsible for maintaining loan accounts).

Student Loan Statistics

The annual report webpage includes a spreadsheet that contains key statistics on student loan borrowing, repayments and balances.

Student Loan Publications

The Education Counts website contains a number of analytical reports on student loans and borrowers. Many of these studies have used the Integrated Dataset on the Student Loan Scheme, maintained by Statistics New Zealand that links data from the three agencies involved in the scheme. More information about student loans and allowances is available on the Statistics New Zealand website. Visit Student Loan Scheme Annual Reports on Education Education Counts for the latest, and historical, publications on the Student Loan Scheme.