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Massey University has left more than a thousand potential
students high and dry by imposing an immediate cut off to
enrolments for its summer school.
The move has caught people by surprise coming three months earlier
than usual because the institution has reached its funding
cap.
Sean Kelly works fulltime and wanted to do a maths paper at
Massey's summer school in November, but he missed out after the
university cut off enrolments.
Students were given no warning of the deadline imposed at 5pm last night.
"I've been studying extramurally part time it's a long journey anyway, nine years or so rather than the normal three, so that's just extra time on top of that," said Kelly.
The government is also concerned at the lack of notice.
"I think I have some concerns about some of the way it's being managed, in this case it was pretty abrupt," said Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce.
The university said it acted to prevent being swamped with last minute enrolments.
"We opened summer school enrolments for the upcoming one, we opened them in October last year, so they've had ample opportunity," said Massey spokesman James Gardiner.
Massey usually takes around 5,000 students for its summer school but it was forced to axe 1,500 places because the money has run out.
"It's no secret that other universities and Massey are under pressure to work within the government funding caps," said Gardiner.
He said obviously they are not happy about turning people away, but the government has set them a limit and they have to live with that.
Gardiner said they will not be unreasonable if there is a case of genuine hardship to a student who has missed out on enrolling.
In May, Victoria University put a cap on student enrolments. Auckland and Otago Universities have also tightened entry criteria.
"We've had an increase of students studying at university because of the downturn in the economy, and it just we haven't had any response from them, and this is where we are now," said Kelly.
Joyce said the government has more funding in place in 2011 than ever before.
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