What a Difference a Year Makes: Fees-Free Policy and University Students in Aotearoa New Zealand

Abstract

The current study is a brief report building on previous research in which first-year university students in early 2018 reported the extent to which the New Zealand Fees-Free Policy had influenced their decisions to enrol in university and subsequent academic experiences (Sotardi et al. 2019). In the current work, we extend this research by focusing on first-year undergraduate students in early 2019. With a cross-sectional design, participants were first-semester university students (n = 955) from one New Zealand institution. As a clear departure from 2018 results, 60% of the participants for the 2019 sample reported that the policy was a contributing factor in their decision to enrol in university. Moreover, 26.1% of the participants—a 425% increase from the early 2018 implementation—reported that they would not have enrolled in university had the policy not been implemented. The policy had a slightly greater impact in 2019 on younger, female students. Similar to 2018, current findings show that students who were more strongly influenced by the policy reported poorer adjustment to university, subjective wellbeing, and university satisfaction, and semester one Grade Point Average; further, students who were more strongly influenced by the policy were more likely to show interest in an early departure from university. Results provide initial evidence that instead of who students are (demographics), the reasons why students pursue a university degree and whether they are prepared may better inform how policy relates to academic and personal outcomes. Discussion focuses on trends between the 2018 and 2019 cohorts, and considers possible directions ahead as the Fees-Free Policy advances.