Some students are struggling to pay rent because of StudyLink delays. Photo: RNZ
StudyLink has processed more student loan and allowance applications than last year, but thousands remain uncompleted, figures leaked to RNZ show.
RNZ understands StudyLink has struggled to deal with a 12 percent jump in applications that universities warned would be coming as their enrolments rose.
A source told RNZ the situation was avoidable, chaotic, and a crisis.
Students said delays created financial problems for many people.
RNZ understands there were delays of as much as two months between students providing documentation and staff processing the information.
RNZ was told StudyLink staff were offered overtime to help get through the backlog and staff from other parts of the Ministry of Social Development were brought in to help in recent months in what was described as a "panic" response.
Figures obtained by RNZ showed 142,649 students applied for student support between late September last year and 5 April this year, 12 percent or 15,216 more than last year.
By 5 April, StudyLink had processed 23,400 more applications than at the same time last year.
But it also had more unfinished applications.
As at 5 April, 15 percent of student allowance applications and three percent of loan applications made before 16 December, the date StudyLink encourages students' to apply by, had still not been processed, compared to 14 percent and less than one percent at the same time last year.
The figures showed that at that date 14,711 student allowance and 9539 loan applications were still incomplete, including nearly 7400 made before 16 December.
Last year the figures were 13,102 and 5222.
StudyLink told RNZ it had nearly as many staff working with loan and allowance applications as last year.
"In March 2024 we had 119 staff trained to handle StudyLink demand. As at 4 March 2025, we have 114 CSRs (customer service representatives) handling StudyLink calls. The reduced staffing numbers is due to natural attrition over this time in the contact centre."
StudyLink said application numbers could be "very difficult to predict".
"This summer season saw applications exceeded expectations with over 15,000 more students applying than last year, which we rediverted people from across MSD to support managing these additional applications," it said.
It said it hired 32 people on fixed-term contracts to help this year, compared with 28 for the 2023/2024 season.
It also confirmed that it had offered staff overtime since November.
"The amount of overtime offered each week varied based on the demands at the time. Overtime is a planned response which we look to every year to manage demands in high demand periods in StudyLink," it said.
Rent and hardship
Victoria University of Wellington Students Association engagement vice-president Aidan Donoghue (left) and equity officer Aspen Jackman. Photo: RNZ / John Gerritsen
Victoria University of Wellington Students Association engagement vice-president Aidan Donoghue told RNZ it's noticed more complaints about delays with student loan and allowance approvals.
"We've heard an uptick in there being delays with StudyLink processing applications, particularly those that require income verification of parents, so we've heard a fair bit of students who have almost missed their deadline for enrolment because StudyLink applications have to be sorted out before they can start at university. And there's also been an uptick in students having to be back-paid their living costs, because their application hasn't kicked in by the time they've started being charged rent," he said.
Donoghue said that caused financial problems for students.
"The obvious factor is rent is every week whether or not you're getting paid from StudyLink and so for a lot of students they're having to either borrow from the bank of mum and dad or other means to cover that rent," he said.
"So we've seen students really struggling with that and also the university has had to cover some of that with the hardship fund and has had to pay more this year compared to other years."
The association's equity officer Aspen Jackman said her flat was directly affected by the problem.
"My flatmate, she didn't get StudyLink until a couple of weeks ago and so that caused me and my other flatmate to have to cover her rent for a while, which caused us to not get groceries for three weeks," she said.
Jackman said students had complained about difficulties reaching StudyLink on the phone.
"People will call up and they'll be like, 'Sorry, we have too many calls at the moment. Please try again later'. And they don't call people back and there's no wait or hold time for them," she said.
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