Thursday, July 30, 2020 Since Sept 27, 1879 Retail $2.20 Home delivered from $1.40 THE INDEPENDENT VOICE OF MID CANTERBURY Loss of foreign students hits colleges Online move right call P2 Both Ashburton and Mount Hutt colleges are taking a hammering financially due to the loss of foreign fee-paying students. BY SUE NEWMAN Traditionally the college hosts several Until Covid-19, that source had been
[email protected] groups of Thai and Japanese students international student fees, Saxon said. Mid Canterbury’s two secondary each year. This year it will host none “This source has now been compro- schools are counting the lost income and Saxon is putting the overall loss of mised. At the moment we’re starting to from international students at well over international student fees at more than tread water, but if the border restric- $100,000 and rising. $100,000. tions are not loosened next year it’ll Both Mount Hutt College and Ashbur- “And into the future, while long term have an impact on staffing. ton College rely on fees from interna- student numbers might increase once “At the end of the day it goes back op- tional students to boost their operating the borders start to open, I don’t think erationally, to what levels schools are fund, but on the back of the Covid-19 there’s any light at the end of the tunnel funded to, to run a modern curriculum. closure of New Zealand’s borders, both for international short stays and they’re It means they’re forced to find other schools have a significantly lower num- the more profitable, generally,” he said.