Massey University students have slammed their tertiary provider for a lack of information over possible cuts to Engineering, Plant Science and Food Technology courses.
The university maintains that no decisions have yet been made, but students are already considering course changes to pre-empt any cuts.
First, second and third-year engineering students chose Massey for a world-class education.
Now they're uncertain about what their future holds at the tertiary provider.
"We feel distraught, we feel anxious," one student told Newshub.
"We're wondering if we're going to have to redo the entire year or resit all papers," another said.
"The anxiety about the future and what's going to happen from this point onwards is just, you know, at a new peak right now," a third added.
Their end-of-year exams have taken a backseat, while they fight for answers and transparency from the university.
"Massey University has consistently told us that they're going to teach these courses to completion, students that are enrolled will be able to finish their qualifications at Massey. Now we're hearing this is no longer the case," Massey Student Representative Hennessey Wilson said.
The College of Sciences Pro Vice-Chancellor declined an interview with Newshub on Thursday but provided a statement that read: "The University has recently been signalling difficult financial conditions, and the need to reduce costs and generate income, to ensure its financial sustainability."
"Massey University has put off these cuts for a long time, hoping that the international students would return in droves, and that we'd have an uptake in domestic students," Wilson said. "That hasn't happened."
Wilson said the financial deficits are so large the cuts are all but a done deal.
He said the $150 million purpose-built facility is in the process of being leased out, and the Engineering qualification no longer has the international accreditation the students valued.
"One of the things that you need to do to in order to gain the accreditation is to show that your course is future-proof," he said.
"Obviously, a university that's shutting down parts of campus can't show that."
He believes there's likely more cuts on the way.
"We're hearing that there could be up to 200 job losses in the humanities and social sciences," Wilson said.
Adding insult to injury, with enrolments for the affected courses still open on their website.
"They could've grandfathered these courses out, teach them to completion - instead they brought more students in, they picked the path of greed and now they're going to face massive reputational damage because of it," Wilson said.
However, Massey University maintains no decisions have been made, with an announcement expected on 27 November.
"That gives students less than two weeks turn around to find another university," Wilson added.
Potentially forcing several hundred students, educators and staff to make life-changing decisions in the coming weeks.
