There are concern's Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology and Aoraki Polytechnic are letting the government pull the strings with the creation of a business case to relieve financial pressure.

The two polytechnics are proposing to merge, as a way to reduce Aoraki's operating deficit.

The proposal currently before Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce for approval.

But Tertiary Education Union national secretary Sharn Riggs said it's been hidden away from the public.

"There has been significant consultation so far, but we don't know whether any of the things that our members have been talking about have been taken on board, which makes a mockery of consultation."

There are also worries that small town New Zealanders will end up missing out on tertiary education all-together.

CPIT and Aoraki have campuses in Timaru, Oamaru, and Ashburton, as well as the main centres.

"We've had experience in other mergers where the smallest sites that have been taken over have lost their connection with their own region, and it impacts very badly on access students," Riggs cautioned.

She said she has no way of knowing if those concerns have been addressed in the case put forward.

New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations' Rory McCourt believes it's all part of a wider picture.

"We're interested in what's driving these mergers because they are happening across the country. We do really believe it's about the government under funding polytechs and leaving them with no choice but to merge or sink."