Victoria University Student Life

LIVING COSTS: Living costs depend on where and how you choose to live. The average weekly cost of a Hall of Residence is between NZ$180 and NZ$300 and it may include up to three daily meals, internet, electricity and local phone costs.

Rent for flatting – shared apartment or house – averages NZ$160 per week, with additional costs for food, internet, phone and electricity.

If flatmates cook together and take advantage of low-cost supermarkets and the weekly fruitand-vegetable market, expenses for food can be significantly lowered. Libraries, most cinemas and theatres offer student discounts, as do many bookstores and shops.


ENTERTAINMENT: Wellington offers some tremendous ways to have fun, unwind and energise. Courtenay Place is a thoroughfare of dance clubs, all-night cafeÅLs and bars, theatres and cinema complexes and is punctuated by a vertical-bungy ride.

Wellingtonians are experts on fine coffee and enjoy more cafes, bars and restaurants per capita than New Yorkers. 

Wellington’s performance culture provides some truly invigorating entertainment every day and night of the week, be it live music, comedy or theatre.

For a gentler pace, visit the excellent central library, choose from one of many art galleries, walk through the Botanical Gardens or view a museum exhibition. Victoria University offers perhaps the best entertainment of all – a great social life.


Your Budget

WHAT THINGS COST: Below are some average non-discounted prices of some common goods in New Zealand dollars.

• Prepaid international telephone call cards around $20 for 5-6 hours
• Cell phone $30 per month
• Takeaway meal $7-$20
• Coffee $4; soft drink $2; beer $7
• DVD hire $8; cinema $14
• Backpackers $30 (dorm bunk) per night
• Taxi from airport to city $25-$35
• Bus/cable car from university to city $2; taxi $12 The table shows estimated living costs for one academic year at Victoria based on 38 weeks.