Student unions say the Government is "completely disconnected" from the hardships students face.
Thirty-three student unions - including the New Zealand Union of Students' Associations (NZUSA), Te Mana Ākonga, Tauira Pasifika and the National Disabled Students’ Association - are asking tertiary students to fill out a survey explaining their experiences.
Andrew Lessells, president of the NZUSA, said a "genuine effort" was needed to understand the issues students faced, and that the Government needed to listen.
“The Government is completely disconnected from the lives of our 400,000 students across Aotearoa.
“These students have lost jobs because of Covid, are taking on crippling debt just to keep a roof over their heads and the most the Minister can do is offer a few thousand of them a miserly $25 a week in extra allowance," he said.
The additional $25 a week in student allowances and student loan living costs were part of the Government's 2021 Budget and kicked in from April 1.
The Government had estimated that 63,000 people receiving student allowances - which don't have to be paid back - and 86,000 student loan living cost borrowers would benefit from the changes.
But some students still found they were scraping by. A recently-released University of Otago survey of 522 tertiary students found that students had to compromise on food and other necessities to combat their damp and cold living conditions.
Kyla Campbell-Kamariera, from Te Mana Ākonga Tumuaki, said the people's inquiry would shine light on the "diverse realities of tauira Māori across the country".
“To litigate student wellbeing experiences over and over again with no meaningful transformation is getting tiring and boring. We’re ready to see some change,” Campbell-Kamariera said.
National Disabled Students’ Association co-president Alice Mander said the inquiry would also make sure students with disabilities were part of the conversation.
“We know that disabled students face material hardship at greater rates than nondisabled students, and also face inequities and barriers in the tertiary education system itself. The support is simply not there for our students,” Mander said.
Education Minister Chris Hipkins said he will "never be content with the level of financial support that's provided for tertiary students".
"It's something I've spent a lot of time arguing for in my working life and as a Minister of Education we've been consistently improving the level of financial support supplied for tertiary students.
"Have we done enough? No, of course not and we continue to look for ways we can do more, but there is a limit to the amount the Government can do all at once."
When asked if student support should be increased, National leader Christopher Luxon said he thought it was "really a question of what problem are we trying to solve".
"On the surface of it, I don't really see any need for it."
The Green Party's tertiary spokesperson Chlöe Swarbrick said there needed to be a more "solid understanding" of who the students in New Zealand were and their experiences.
Swarbrick is teaming up with the student unions to produce a report from the survey's findings that would be presented to the Government later in the year.
The survey aimed to collect feedback from 3800 students across the country.
“Forty years ago, tertiary education was free. Student debt now chases New Zealanders across the country and the world for decades, to the tune of $16 billion. This was a political choice," she said.
“Even worse, studying is undermined by astronomical rents and inaccessible support, meaning many trade off their health and grades."
To try and improve student wellbeing, the Government had introduced a new Pastoral Care Code and carried out an inquiry into student accommodation.
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