Latest news with #TheNewZealandInitiative
RNZ News
10-06-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Harvard's bonfire could be NZ's foreign student exchange
Harvard University's graduation day takes place amid escalating tensions between the university and the Trump administration. Photo: Getty via AFP One of the world's best universities, a magnet for the globe's brightest brains, is under attack by the Trump administration. And while Harvard is fighting various funding restrictions and bans on foreign student visas, harsher policies on America's borders are creating fear from returning students that they could be arrested by immigration officers and jailed or deported. International students are big money-makers for universities worldwide - in New Zealand they pay four times the amount in fees as domestic students. "We could be doing well while doing good," says the chief economist at the policy think-tank The New Zealand Initiative, Dr Eric Crampton. "It's amazing that America's throwing all this away. "We aren't the destination market for the best students in the world. But if the place that is the destination for the best students in the world suddenly says 'we don't want them any more' - my God we'd better be ready for that," he tells The Detail . Crampton is Canadian, but spent time in the US on a student visa so knows what it's like to study there. He's also taught at Canterbury University and has experience with exchange students. He says the American administration has now basically put every student visa under threat, with erratic threats coming from the President, whether over funding or threats to Chinese students on the basis that "they're all spies or something". Trump's move to bar international students from Harvard by blocking their visas has itself now been blocked by a court order , but the situation remains uncertain. At the same time foreign students are getting nervous about leaving the country and trying to get back in, with reports about people randomly getting arrested at the border. The hit to the US economy is expected to cost billions in revenue, and has been described as an "anti-intellectual spree". "When you live in America on something like a student visa, every interaction with the state you're reminded that you're less than an American. Even in 2002 it was very clear that you are there by their sufferance. "It would be awful being there now on a student visa because just imagine it ... you'd be paying $US50,000 per year in international tuition fees, maybe you've already paid for two years of study and you're coming towards the end of it ... and you've got two more years ahead of you ... if they cancel your visa you've wasted $100,000 and two years. "If you're at a place like Harvard, people wouldn't hold it against you, you could continue your studies elsewhere. People would say 'well, he was admitted to Harvard, he must be really good', but if you're at a mid-tier US university - which is still better than anything New Zealand has - you'll have sunk two years' worth of study and $100,000 worth of cost, and you won't be able to finish your degree. "It feels like the kind of spot where New Zealand could help. We've always been able to accommodate students on international exchange. We could make it really easy for students to come in that way." Universities New Zealand chief executive Chris Whelan says New Zealand is nearly back up to pre-Covid numbers of foreign students, with our eight universities having about 20 thousand full time equivalent students between them. "International students help, but they're just one of a number of different mechanisms that universities are looking to for making payroll and keeping lights on," he says. "We don't want to grow too far ... we want international education to be a genuinely quality and value proposition for both domestic students - giving them the ability to rub shoulders with people from different cultures - but also for the international students, to give them a genuine international experience. "But if any student did want to, or was forced to, discontinue their studies in the US, there are places like New Zealand that I think would welcome them and would make it as easy as possible for them to get here." Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here . You can also stay up-to-date by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter .
Newsroom
10-06-2025
- Business
- Newsroom
America's foreign student fiasco
One of the world's best universities, a magnet for the globe's brightest brains, is under attack by the Trump administration. And while Harvard is fighting various funding restrictions and bans on foreign student visas, harsher policies on America's borders are creating fear from returning students that they could be arrested by immigration officers and jailed or deported. International students are big money-makers for universities worldwide – in New Zealand they pay four times the amount in fees as domestic students. 'We could be doing well while doing good,' says the chief economist at the policy think-tank The New Zealand Initiative, Dr Eric Crampton. 'It's amazing that America's throwing all this away. 'We aren't the destination market for the best students in the world. But if the place that is the destination for the best students in the world suddenly says 'We don't want them any more' – my God we'd better be ready for that,' he tells The Detail. Crampton is Canadian, but spent time in the US on a student visa so knows what it's like to study there. He's also taught at Canterbury University and has experience with exchange students. He says the American administration has now basically put every student visa under threat, with erratic threats coming from the President, whether over funding or threats to Chinese students on the basis that 'they're all spies or something'. Trump's move to bar international students from Harvard by blocking their visas has itself now been blocked by a court order, but the situation remains uncertain. At the same time foreign students are getting nervous about leaving the country and trying to get back in, with reports about people getting arrested randomly at the border. The hit to the US economy is expected to cost billions in revenue, and has been described as an 'anti-intellectual spree'. 'When you live in America on something like a student visa, every interaction with the state you're reminded that you're less than an American. Even in 2002 it was very clear that you are there by their sufferance. 'It would be awful being there now on a student visa because just imagine it … you'd be paying $US50,000 per year in international tuition fees, maybe you've already paid for two years of study and you're coming towards the end of it … and you've got two more years ahead of you … if they cancel your visa you've wasted $100,000 and two years. 'If you're at a place like Harvard, people wouldn't hold it against you, you could continue your studies elsewhere. People would say 'Well, he was admitted to Harvard, he must be really good', but if you're at a mid-tier US university – which is still better than anything New Zealand has – you'll have sunk two years' worth of study and $100,000 worth of cost, and you won't be able to finish your degree. 'It feels like the kind of spot where New Zealand could help. We've always been able to accommodate students on international exchange. We could make it really easy for students to come in that way.' Universities New Zealand chief executive Chris Whelan says New Zealand is nearly back up to pre-Covid numbers of foreign students, with our eight universities having about 20,000 full-time equivalent students between them. 'International students help, but they're just one of a number of different mechanisms that universities are looking to for making payroll and keeping lights on,' he says. 'We don't want to grow too far … we want international education to be a genuinely quality and value proposition for both domestic students – giving them the ability to rub shoulders with people from different cultures – but also for the international students, to give them a genuine international experience. 'But if any student did want to, or was forced to, discontinue their studies in the US, there are places like New Zealand that I think would welcome them and would make it as easy as possible for them to get here.' Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here. You can also stay up-to-date by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter.
RNZ News
10-06-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
America's foreign student fiasco
Harvard University's graduation day takes place amid escalating tensions between the university and the Trump administration. Photo: Getty via AFP One of the world's best universities, a magnet for the globe's brightest brains, is under attack by the Trump administration. And while Harvard is fighting various funding restrictions and bans on foreign student visas, harsher policies on America's borders are creating fear from returning students that they could be arrested by immigration officers and jailed or deported. International students are big money-makers for universities worldwide - in New Zealand they pay four times the amount in fees as domestic students. "We could be doing well while doing good," says the chief economist at the policy think-tank The New Zealand Initiative, Dr Eric Crampton. "It's amazing that America's throwing all this away. "We aren't the destination market for the best students in the world. But if the place that is the destination for the best students in the world suddenly says 'we don't want them any more' - my God we'd better be ready for that," he tells The Detail . Crampton is Canadian, but spent time in the US on a student visa so knows what it's like to study there. He's also taught at Canterbury University and has experience with exchange students. He says the American administration has now basically put every student visa under threat, with erratic threats coming from the President, whether over funding or threats to Chinese students on the basis that "they're all spies or something". Trump's move to bar international students from Harvard by blocking their visas has itself now been blocked by a court order , but the situation remains uncertain. At the same time foreign students are getting nervous about leaving the country and trying to get back in, with reports about people randomly getting arrested at the border. The hit to the US economy is expected to cost billions in revenue, and has been described as an "anti-intellectual spree". "When you live in America on something like a student visa, every interaction with the state you're reminded that you're less than an American. Even in 2002 it was very clear that you are there by their sufferance. "It would be awful being there now on a student visa because just imagine it ... you'd be paying $US50,000 per year in international tuition fees, maybe you've already paid for two years of study and you're coming towards the end of it ... and you've got two more years ahead of you ... if they cancel your visa you've wasted $100,000 and two years. "If you're at a place like Harvard, people wouldn't hold it against you, you could continue your studies elsewhere. People would say 'well, he was admitted to Harvard, he must be really good', but if you're at a mid-tier US university - which is still better than anything New Zealand has - you'll have sunk two years' worth of study and $100,000 worth of cost, and you won't be able to finish your degree. "It feels like the kind of spot where New Zealand could help. We've always been able to accommodate students on international exchange. We could make it really easy for students to come in that way." Universities New Zealand chief executive Chris Whelan says New Zealand is nearly back up to pre-Covid numbers of foreign students, with our eight universities having about 20 thousand full time equivalent students between them. "International students help, but they're just one of a number of different mechanisms that universities are looking to for making payroll and keeping lights on," he says. "We don't want to grow too far ... we want international education to be a genuinely quality and value proposition for both domestic students - giving them the ability to rub shoulders with people from different cultures - but also for the international students, to give them a genuine international experience. "But if any student did want to, or was forced to, discontinue their studies in the US, there are places like New Zealand that I think would welcome them and would make it as easy as possible for them to get here." Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here . You can also stay up-to-date by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter .
Scoop
29-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
The New Zealand Initiative Supports Resource Management Reform Package As Important Interim Step
Press Release – The New Zealand Initiative The reforms include proposed amendments to a suite of existing national direction instruments and several new instruments across three key areas: infrastructure and development, primary sector regulation, and freshwater management. The Government's announcement of sweeping reforms to national direction under the Resource Management Act represents an important interim step toward fixing New Zealand's broken planning system. The reforms include proposed amendments to a suite of existing national direction instruments and several new instruments across three key areas: infrastructure and development, primary sector regulation, and freshwater management. 'We applaud Ministers for stripping out unnecessary consenting hurdles and bringing forward an NPS on infrastructure to speed up investment and housing supply,' says Dr Oliver Hartwich, Executive Director of The New Zealand Initiative. 'But without similarly bold action to lower barriers in the grocery sector, New Zealanders risk missing out on the opportunity to open up the retail grocery sector to competition.' The reforms tackle multiple fronts simultaneously – from enabling granny flats and papakāinga housing to removing barriers for primary sector development and streamlining infrastructure projects. New national policy statements for infrastructure and renewable energy generation signal that the Government recognises infrastructure as vital to prosperity. 'We particularly welcome the focus on removing unnecessary consent requirements that have added cost and delay without meaningful environmental benefit,' Dr Hartwich said. The Government's commitment to removing certain types of land from the National Policy Statement on Highly Productive Land reflects common-sense priorities. 'These changes represent a philosophical shift from discretionary control to enabling development,' Dr Hartwich said. 'The new National Policy Statement for Infrastructure sends a clear message that infrastructure is critical to our prosperity, not an inconvenience to be managed.' However, The New Zealand Initiative believes the Government can do more. The organisation's recently released proposal on Fast-Track Supermarket Entry and Expansion would perfectly align with the suite of reforms the Government has put forward. 'By integrating our Fast-Track Supermarket Entry and Expansion framework into this package, Ministers would remove planning, consenting and investment barriers all at once,' the Initiative's Chief Economist Dr Eric Crampton added. 'That single, coordinated pathway would finally allow well-capitalised new entrants to open a network of supermarkets well in advance of the final phase of resource management reforms being implemented.' The proposal would enable the market to discover what is possible in grocery retail by removing regulatory bottlenecks that have historically protected incumbents from new competition. 'Nothing we do now under the existing RMA framework will ever be truly sufficient, given the fundamental structural problems with the current regime,' Dr Hartwich said. 'But the Government is making meaningful progress while we wait for Phase Three's complete overhaul – and our supermarket framework shows how they could go further.' The organisation noted that the reforms align with evidence-based approaches to urban development and economic growth, including enabling mixed-use development and reducing barriers to productive land use. 'These reforms demonstrate that good policy can advance environmental outcomes and economic development simultaneously,' Dr Hartwich said. 'The question was never environment versus economy – it was about creating systems that work for New Zealand families and businesses.'
Scoop
29-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
The New Zealand Initiative Supports Resource Management Reform Package As Important Interim Step
Press Release – The New Zealand Initiative The reforms include proposed amendments to a suite of existing national direction instruments and several new instruments across three key areas: infrastructure and development, primary sector regulation, and freshwater management. The Government's announcement of sweeping reforms to national direction under the Resource Management Act represents an important interim step toward fixing New Zealand's broken planning system. The reforms include proposed amendments to a suite of existing national direction instruments and several new instruments across three key areas: infrastructure and development, primary sector regulation, and freshwater management. 'We applaud Ministers for stripping out unnecessary consenting hurdles and bringing forward an NPS on infrastructure to speed up investment and housing supply,' says Dr Oliver Hartwich, Executive Director of The New Zealand Initiative. 'But without similarly bold action to lower barriers in the grocery sector, New Zealanders risk missing out on the opportunity to open up the retail grocery sector to competition.' The reforms tackle multiple fronts simultaneously – from enabling granny flats and papakāinga housing to removing barriers for primary sector development and streamlining infrastructure projects. New national policy statements for infrastructure and renewable energy generation signal that the Government recognises infrastructure as vital to prosperity. 'We particularly welcome the focus on removing unnecessary consent requirements that have added cost and delay without meaningful environmental benefit,' Dr Hartwich said. The Government's commitment to removing certain types of land from the National Policy Statement on Highly Productive Land reflects common-sense priorities. 'These changes represent a philosophical shift from discretionary control to enabling development,' Dr Hartwich said. 'The new National Policy Statement for Infrastructure sends a clear message that infrastructure is critical to our prosperity, not an inconvenience to be managed.' However, The New Zealand Initiative believes the Government can do more. The organisation's recently released proposal on Fast-Track Supermarket Entry and Expansion would perfectly align with the suite of reforms the Government has put forward. 'By integrating our Fast-Track Supermarket Entry and Expansion framework into this package, Ministers would remove planning, consenting and investment barriers all at once,' the Initiative's Chief Economist Dr Eric Crampton added. 'That single, coordinated pathway would finally allow well-capitalised new entrants to open a network of supermarkets well in advance of the final phase of resource management reforms being implemented.' The proposal would enable the market to discover what is possible in grocery retail by removing regulatory bottlenecks that have historically protected incumbents from new competition. 'Nothing we do now under the existing RMA framework will ever be truly sufficient, given the fundamental structural problems with the current regime,' Dr Hartwich said. 'But the Government is making meaningful progress while we wait for Phase Three's complete overhaul – and our supermarket framework shows how they could go further.' The organisation noted that the reforms align with evidence-based approaches to urban development and economic growth, including enabling mixed-use development and reducing barriers to productive land use. 'These reforms demonstrate that good policy can advance environmental outcomes and economic development simultaneously,' Dr Hartwich said. 'The question was never environment versus economy – it was about creating systems that work for New Zealand families and businesses.'
