The current study is a brief report building on previous research in which first-year university students in early 2018 reported the extent to which the New Zealand Fees-Free Policy had influenced their decisions to enrol in university and subsequent academic experiences (Sotardi et al. 2019). In the current work, we extend this research by focusing on first-year undergraduate students in early 2019. With a cross-sectional design, participants were first-semester university students ( n = 955) from one New Zealand institution. As a clear departure from 2018 results, 60% of the participants for the 2019 sample reported that the policy was a contributing factor in their decision to enrol in university. Moreover, 26.1% of the participants—a 425% increase from the early 2018 implementation—reported that they would not have enrolled in university had the policy not been implemented. The policy had a slightly greater impact in 2019 on younger, female students. Similar to 2018, current findings show that students who were more strongly influenced by the policy reported poorer adjustment to university, subjective wellbeing, and university satisfaction, and semester one Grade Point Average; further, students who were more strongly influenced by the policy were more likely to show interest in an early departure from university. Results provide initial evidence that instead of who students are (demographics), the reasons why students pursue a university degree and whether they are prepared may better inform how policy relates to academic and personal outcomes. Discussion focuses on trends between the 2018 and 2019 cohorts, and considers possible directions ahead as the Fees-Free Policy advances.

中文翻译：

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一年有什么不同：新西兰 Aotearoa 的免费政策和大学生

当前的研究是建立在先前研究的基础上的简短报告，其中 2018 年初的大学一年级学生报告了新西兰免费政策对他们进入大学的决定和随后的学术经历的影响程度（Sotardi 等人，2018 年）。 2019）。在当前的工作中，我们通过关注 2019 年初的一年级本科生来扩展这项研究。 通过横断面设计，参与者是来自新西兰机构的第一学期大学生 (n = 955)。与 2018 年的结果明显不同的是，2019 年样本中有 60% 的参与者报告说，该政策是他们决定入读大学的一个促成因素。此外，26。1% 的参与者（比 2018 年初实施时增加了 425%）表示，如果不实施该政策，他们就不会上大学。该政策在 2019 年对年轻女学生的影响略大。与 2018 年类似，目前的调查结果表明，受政策影响较大的学生对大学、主观幸福感和大学满意度以及第一学期平均绩点的调整较差；此外，受政策影响较大的学生更有可能对提前离开大学表现出兴趣。结果提供了初步证据，表明学生攻读大学学位的原因以及他们是否做好准备可能会更好地说明政策与学术和个人成果的关系，而不是学生是谁（人口统计）。