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A new report on the student loans scheme shows that more than 13% of New Zealanders over the age of 15 owe money to the government.
It is the first specific response to an Auditor General's inquiry in 2000 which criticised a lack of investigation into the impact of loans on young people's lives.
Student debt now stands at $7 billion - more than double what it was when the auditor general raised the concerns.
The new report contains a wealth of information about debt, income and repayment levels as well as the number of borrowers living overseas.
It shows that the average time taken to repay a student loan is falling, with four out of 10 people repaying their loan within six years.
Education Minister Trevor Mallard says the average time taken to repay a loan is now 9.3 years, down from almost 15 years in 1999.
He says starting debts are lower than before because interest is no longer charged while people are studying, more students are eligible for allowances and average fees have dropped.
Mallard says students with bigger loans at the time of graduation generally earn higher incomes and pay back their debts faster than normal.
But the Green Party says the figures are no reason to boast. Tertiary education spokesperson Nandor Tanczos says the facts about student debt contained in the Education Ministry's report are concerning.
"In 1999, when this government came to power promising to make tertiary education affordable, the average student loan balance was $11,665. Five years later, under Labour's watch, it had ballooned by 24% to $14,424," Tanzcos says.
He says that in the same period, the total amount of student debt more than doubled from $2.89 billion to $5.96 billion.
"While the highest earning graduates can repay their debt in a reasonable time, some people have made no progress in repaying their loan after 10 years," Tanczos says.
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