Graduate Centre ClockTower – East Wing The University of Auckland Private Bag 92019 Auckland 1142 Tel: +64 9 373 7599 ext 86899 Domestic PhD Tuition Fees for non-New Zealand Citizens Candidates who are not New Zealand citizens are able to pay the same PhD tuition fees as New Zealand citizens (often referred to as ‘domestic’ fees) as long as they meet certain criteria. The criteria are set by government and are non-negotiable. 1 Candidates who do not meet the criteria pay international tuition fees, which are approximately five and a half times more than domestic fees. Candidates who are New Zealand citizens pay domestic fees. They do not have to be resident in New Zealand for the duration of their doctorate; they may spend more than 12 months in total overseas during their candidature. Any absence of greater than 2 months’ duration requires approval (DOC6). 1 Eligibility for Domestic PhD Tuition Fees Permanent residents of New Zealand, Australian citizens and permanent residents of Australia, and other international students may pay domestic tuition fees if they: • are resident in New Zealand for the duration of their PhD • spend no more than 12 months in total overseas during their candidature - time overseas must be approved before travel commences: a DOC6 must be submitted and approved before every research trip of 2 months’ duration or more - time overseas must be for the purposes of doctoral research. Candidates who wish to return home to write up their results will have to pay full international fees, even if they have not spent 12 months in total overseas during their doctoral candidature. - time overseas to attend a conference does not require a DOC6 if the sole purpose of the trip is to attend the conference, but the time is part of the 12 month total - the 12 month rule does not include time taken on annual leave. A candidate may spend up to 4 weeks per year on annual leave; that leave may be taken overseas. During annual leave a candidate does not undertake research or other work on their thesis. - the 12 month rule does not include any time when the candidate is suspended. Candidates may be overseas during suspensions approved by the Board of Graduate Studies. While on suspension candidates may not undertake research or other work on their theses. Note: Candidates who are on US Financial Aid must also adhere to the regulations around Approved Leaves of Absence (see Section 3 below). Candidates who do not or who no longer meet the eligibility criteria for domestic PhD tuition fees will be charged full international tuition fees. Once the decision is made to charge international fees the increased fees will be loaded onto the candidate’s account for the current academic year enrolment. International fees will continue to be charged for the remainder of the registration, even if the candidate returns to New Zealand. 1 TEC, Rules ENR002, ENR006, ENR007 Approved by Board of Graduate Studies June 2014 Last updated 24.06.14 Graduate Centre ClockTower – East Wing The University of Auckland Private Bag 92019 Auckland 1142 Tel: +64 9 373 7599 ext 86899 Domestic PhD Tuition Fees for non-New Zealand Citizens 2 Full-Time Study It is expected that international PhD candidates paying domestic tuition fees will be enrolled as full-time students. 2 If a candidate believes that they are able to enrol part-time, they must provide the Graduate Centre with evidence that they have been granted a student visa that allows them to undertake part-time PhD study. If an international candidate is permitted to enrol part-time, the 12 month rule still applies; the time the candidate is allowed to be overseas for the purposes of doctoral research does not double to 24 months. 3 US Financial Aid The US Financial Aid regulation requires that Approved Leaves of Absence (LOA) together with any additional leaves of absence must not exceed a total of 180 days in any 12 month period. A student who is granted an approved LOA is considered to remain in an in-school status for loan repayment purposes. A failure to return from an Approved LOA may affect loan repayment terms, including the expiration of the grace period. 4 After Submission The time between submission and the oral examination is not part of the 12 month rule. During this period candidates are not required to pay tuition fees. A candidate may leave New Zealand after submitting their thesis, but should note that they are expected to be available to attend their oral examination in person. A candidate who wishes to remain in New Zealand in the period between submission and their oral examination and whose student visa is due to expire needs to ask the Graduate Centre to enrol them in ‘Thesis under Submission’. This 7 month course does not incur tuition fees but the candidate is required to pay insurance for the period of the enrolment extension. The Graduate Centre cannot enrol anyone in this course until the insurance fee has been paid. Once enrolled in ‘Thesis under Submission’ and having paid the insurance fee the candidate can then apply for a new student visa. 2 Immigration New Zealand Operational Manual U7.20.1c (Issue Date: 9 June 2014) Approved by Board of Graduate Studies June 2014 Last updated 24.06.14