Source: Tertiary Education Commission
Last updated 2 October 2024
The AMFM policy sets limits on fees that tertiary education organisations (TEOs) can charge learners. Its purpose is to promote affordable study for learners while allowing TEOs some flexibility in setting fees.
The AMFM policy sets limits on fees that tertiary education organisations (TEOs) can charge learners. Its purpose is to promote affordable study for learners while allowing TEOs some flexibility in setting fees.
The 2025 AMFM is set at 6.0%.
The AMFM rate for each year is published in the funding mechanisms. The AMFM for 2024 was 2.8%.
Funding mechanisms and delegations
The AMFM policy applies to courses funded through the following funds:
Delivery at Levels 3 to 7 (non-degree) on the NZQCF (DQ3-7)
Delivery at Levels 7 (degree) to 10 on the NZQCF (DQ7-10).
Note: fees charged for industry training (i.e. programmes or micro credentials funded under DQ3-7 in the work-based modes of delivery) are exempt from AMFM regulations.
It applies to fees that:
- all domestic students are required to pay, and
- have been funded in a previous year (or years).
The AMFM also applies to:
courses established by a TEO that are a substitute for an existing course on the same or similar subject matter, at the same or a similar level on the NZQCF, and
micro-credentials approved by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) to be part of a programme leading to a qualification.
For more information about micro-credential fees, see Micro-credentials funding and fees.
Additional changes from 2024
2024 changes to how the AMFM is regulated, which allow providers to set lower fees temporarily, take practical effect from 2025.
From 2024, if you reduce fees for a course across one or more calendar years, you can return to the maximum fee you charged before the reduction and apply the AMFM rate increases for the period in which the fee was reduced.
Note: This only applies from 2024. It does not apply to fee reductions that were in place before 2024.
Exceptions to the AMFM
Applications are considered annually, in the year before the course will be delivered.
2025 AMFM exceptions
You may apply for an AMFM exception to increase your fee by up to an additional 6% above the permitted AMFM.
We may only grant an exception to the AMFM policy under exceptional circumstances. The exception criteria are published in the funding mechanisms.
Funding mechanisms and delegations
We will only grant an exception if the following criteria are met:
- the TEO can demonstrate that it is financially unsustainable to deliver the course, in terms of the cost of delivering the course and taking into account the total income that the course would generate (including Government funding and tuition fees),
- and that there are no satisfactory alternatives to limit cost
the existing fees for the course are no more than the 75th percentile of the range of fees charged for similar courses; - and any two of the following three criteria apply:
- where the course is part of a programme at Levels 3–10 on the NZQCF that has been delivered previously, the programme has a cohort-based completion rate that meets or exceeds the median performance benchmark for the NZQCF level in the previous year
- you can demonstrate that the course is in some way unique or special; for example, there are no available local alternatives; and
- not allowing an exception will prevent you from making a significant contribution to the achievement of one or more of the Government’s priorities, as set out in the current Tertiary Education Strategy.
Note: There is a limit to the number of courses for which a TEO can request an exception each year. For details on this, see AMFM exceptions: Application and assessment information.
How to apply for an exception to the AMFM
The application process for 2025 is now open. You must submit applications for any course that starts between 1 January 2025 and 31 December 2025 by 5.00pm on 29 November 2024.
Please read the exceptions information in AMFM exceptions: Application and assessment information (below).
Submit applications and all supporting information with the subject line [EDUMIS] – Exception to the AMFM to our Customer Contact Group at customerservice@tec.govt.nz.
Please go to https://www.tec.govt.nz/ for more information.
