Students marched in Auckland today, in protest of the ever-increasing student debt.
They are calling for a universal student allowance and want some election year promises.
It sounds a lot, but around 80,000 students owe even more.
Student unions say debt levels are crippling and they have launched a campaign called Kiwi Bankrupt.
They want the government to handout living allowances to all students. Currently only around a third qualify.
"It'll certainly be an investment," Paul Falloon from the New Zealand Union of Students' Associations says. "But it's a matter of priorities. We think this is really important for New Zealand and we're hoping this election year, we'll have a result."
But the government says it is already making progress, pointing out than an extra 17,000 students became entitled to allowances in last May's budget.
"It's inevitable that they want that," Tertiary Education Minister Pete Hodgson says. "We've now got stabilised fees, they're paying no interest and so quite logically from their point of view that's going to be their next focus. And so our response is we will move towards a student allowance, but not in one foul swoop to a student allowance."
Just under half a million students are in debt to the government, owing an average of almost $17,000.
Although that figure includes some with very high debt so the adjusted average student in the red owes about $11,000.
For well over a thousand students, the burden is a $100,000 or more. Most in trouble are twenty people who owe twice that much.
Student Union leaders say around 90 percent of students do still work part or full time while they are studying, but it is not enough to make ends meet. They say debt on loans and credit cards for students has increased 54 percent since 2004.
Given those stats, students say the only thing the government can bank on is graduates taking off overseas.
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