First-year-fees-free papers are not free if you fail

The New Zealand Government introduced free tertiary education (for the first year) in 2018. Since then, it's been interesting to note that the number of 'ghosts' in first-year classes (like my ECONS101 and ECONS102 classes) has increased markedly. These 'ghosts' enrol in the class, and then never show up for any lectures or tutorials, and don't complete any assessment at all. It's hard to say what enrolling actually achieves for them - perhaps a year of student allowance?

Anyway, when talking with other ('non-ghost') students about this situation, many of them mention the first year of study being free of fees as a reason. The argument is that failing a paper has no cost at all, because the paper is free of fees. In this short post, I'll explain why the idea that failing a free paper has no cost at all is quite wrong. At least, that it is wrong for any student who is aiming to complete a qualification. [*]

Let's consider a standard three-year degree qualification. At the University of Waikato, this is made up of 360 points. Most papers are 15 points, so that means completing the degree takes 24 papers spread across three years. The fees-free policy covers the first 120 points, which for most students is eight papers. Let's say that ECONS101 is one of those eight 'free' papers.

If the student passes ECONS101 (and their other papers), then they end up paying for 16 papers over the course of completing their degree. However, if they fail ECONS101, then they have to take an additional paper (either taking ECONS101 again, or another paper in place of ECONS101). That means taking 25 papers (instead of 24), of which 17 cost the student real money (instead of 16). So, failing ECONS101 (or, indeed, any other paper during the fees-free year) is not free at all. It costs the student the full cost of a paper, since they now have to take one additional paper to complete their degree.

So, it should be easy to see that failing a paper in the first year is not free, even if the paper doesn't attract any fees the first time around. And we haven't even talked about the opportunity costs of completing the paper that the student failed, which is made up of the time and effort (if any) the student spent attempting the pass the paper the first time.

Now that we've dispelled the myth that failing papers is without cost, it's time to focus on studying, and improving the chances of avoiding any extra costs. Teaching starts this week for A Trimester!

*****

[*] For students who are not aiming to complete a qualification, then the monetary cost really is zero (since the policy covers both tuition fees and any mandatory student services fees). The only cost to a 'ghost' is the opportunity cost of the time it takes to complete their application to enrol. In that sense, the students are correct that fees-free may explain the increase in the number of 'ghosts'.