John Gerritsen of RNZ Immigration advisers say residency rules are driving an unprecedented surge in the number of foreign students paying $30,000-$50,000 a year to study master's degrees. Education Ministry figures showed 14,840 full-time equivalent international students were enrolled in master's programmes last year - enough to outnumber domestic master's students (10,830) for the first time. Last year's figure was 48% higher than 2024, two-and-a-half times the previous high of 5705 full-time equivalents in 2020 and well above 2022's Covid-driven low of 2820. Nearly all the enrolments came from Asia, especially China (4465) and India (4235), and most (9535) were in universities, with a further 2125 in polytechnics and 3175 in private institutions. The total was also close to the 16,100 full-time equivalent international students enrolled in bachelor's degrees. Immigration advisers contacted by RNZ said work and residence rules were behind the increase.…