I’m sure we all agree that we want more young architects joining the profession, but we have a problem there – and it just got worse. The number of graduates going for Registration is dwindling and now there is a new hurdle facing those who wish to do architecture: they won’t be able to get a student allowance to finish the university course.

The powers-that-be seem to love engineers. Their courses are going great guns in terms of funding for student numbers and resources, such as another big addition to The University of Auckland’s School of Engineering. But what are architects good for? Just producing leaky buildings, it seems. And going over budget doing it, of course. Oh, and we are slow, which is why we have largely been shut out of the Christchurch rebuild; there are others who can bang out big boxes and generic homes far more efficiently, which is all that is needed to get business back on its feet as far as the Government-appointed authorities are concerned. Urban design is a nice-to-have it appears but, unfortunately, unaffordable in terms of time and money. And now we have a more fundamental issue that will further inhibit the profession.

As you know, these days it takes five years to complete an architecture course: a-three year Bachelor degree and then the two-year Master of Architecture (Professional). The latter is the degree accredited for Registration and the recent 2012 Budget announced that tertiary students would be effectively funded for only four years of study. And it becomes trickier than that.

Allowances and Loans are two separate things these days. The Loan is what pays your fees and that is still there for seven years maximum, but of course you need to live too. You need to pay rent, eat, commute and so on. As a university student, you can apply for an Allowance for living costs, but that is means-tested so, if you come from a middle-class family, you won’t receive it. And even if you do, it can now be used only for an undergraduate degree and a fourth Honours year for your BA or BSc. You won’t be able to receive it to do the Master of Architecture (Professional). So how do you survive as a student finishing the degree you need for Registration?

Our three full architecture courses are offered only in the two mostexpensive cities in the country to live in. If you already live in Auckland or Wellington, fine, you can stay with Mum and Dad. But if you are from out of town, you (or your parents) are going to need to find a pile of money to support yourself at uni. Straight away, we will start to see a reduction in the number of students from the regions who would come to do architecture and then go back home to practise. Unless they are from wealthy backgrounds of course… and that’s another problem, as we want more architects from a diversity of backgrounds – physically, socially and culturally – if you believe architecture isn’t just about plush premises for the well off but about the buildings in which most of us live, love, learn and work in. Unfortunately, most of them won’t be able to afford the education.

Of course, the answer is working part time, I hear you say and many students already do. But we know times are tough and they just got tougher. Jobs are scarce. We all know, as well, how heavy the workload is in architecture and part-time work is generally cash-light and time consuming. You may be tempted to organise your own form of loan, of course. Good luck with that when you don’t have any assets, although there are a few doom-loop options available such as credit cards.

If they can’t afford to carry on their education, we will start to see more young graduates leaving courses with only three-year undergraduate degreee, suitable for being technicians in offices. That means these graduates have done only the foundation aspect of any architecture course; they may just have Bachelor of Architectural Studies degrees under their belts, not the accredited degree that enables Registration – the additional two years that sets them up to be skilled, smart, mature folk, fully attuned to the complexities of a rapidly changing world. And we need this sort of well-educated graduate who is willing to take on bigger roles in firms, be Registered of course and, after a few years become directors and partners.

What you may be tempted to do with your BAS is what some talented young people are already doing: follow the rainbow over the ditch to Australia where they can do their Masters and work part time for fewer hours and more money, network themselves into a better economy, sort out their postgrad employment and international-looking CVs for their OEs to Europe as well. This is already happening and this ill-thought-out Budget announcement means that the brain drain will just become worse.

This issue doesn’t affect just the Schools of Architecture, it will affect the graduates you hire, the senior people you have in your firm during the next decade and the profession. I suggest you talk to your MP.