Otago University is seeing sometimes harrowing cases of hardship among its students because of the lockdown.
It says students have lost part-time jobs or financial support from their families as businesses cut back.
The university set up a special hardship fund because of the pandemic and so far it has made 345 grants totalling more than $650,000.
The president of the university's students' association, Jack Manning, told RNZ education correspondent, John Gerritsen, that it too is seeing a lot of student hardship.
