The government has spent more than $300 million subsidising more than 30,000 foreign PhD students over the past 12 years -- but is it money well spent?
University students Photo: RNZ
New figures show foreign doctoral students are less likely to stay in New Zealand after finishing their studies than any other group of international students, with just one in four still in the country five years after completion.
The government has been subsidising the students as if they are New Zealanders since 2005 and the scheme now costs more than 40-million dollars a year.
RNZ's education correspondent John Gerritsen canvasses the differing views.
