Red X iconGreen tick iconYellow tick icon
Skip to main content Skip to side navigation

Student facts and figures

Equivalent full-time students (EFTS)20232022202120202019
Commerce 2,933 2,853 2,910 2,768 2,811
Health Sciences 6,180 6,350 6,554 6,409 6,435
Humanities 4,986 5,035 5,167 4,799 4,901
Sciences 4,602 4,688 4,720 4,532 4,543
Subtotal 18,701 18,926 19,351 18,508 18,689
Other 259 249 252 215 226
Total18,96019,17419,60318,72218,915

* Foundation Studies merged from a subsidiary entity into the main University parent during 2021.

Enrolment by qualification type20232022202120202019
PhD 1,340 1,352 1,397 1,368 1,402
Professional Doctorates 202 201 196 180 177
Master's 1,490 1,538 1,664 1,549 1,469
Postgraduate Diplomas 818 880 985 832 942
Postgraduate Certificates 510 607 687 595 649
Graduate Diplomas 131 164 192 185 192
Bachelor Honours 372 471 478 400 396
Bachelor's 15,239 15,493 15,429 14,782 14,728
Undergraduate Diplomas 37 32 21 22 14
Certificate of Proficiency 1,277 641 730 1,151 1,576
Interest Only 5 4 12 5 13
Foundation Studies 262 268 299 236 263
Other 0 0 0 0 0
Total21,20221,15921,54920,72121,240

Note: Enrolments by qualification type sum to more than the total headcount as students can enrol for more than one qualification type.

Gender of students20232022202120202019
Female 12,890 12,893 13,094 12,501 12,711
Male 8,188 8,175 8,398 8,187 8,510
Gender Diverse 124 91 57 33 19
Total21,20221,15921,54920,72121,240

First-year and returning students20232022202120202019
First year 3,982 4,244 4,459 4,018 4,025
Returning 17,220 16,915 17,090 16,703 17,215
Total21,20221,15921,54920,72121,240

Ethnicity of students20232022202120202019
European / Pākehā 72.8% 74.7% 74.7% 72.9% 71.5%
Māori 12.0% 12.4% 11.7% 11.0% 10.3%
Asian 20.0% 19.1% 19.3% 20.0% 20.3%
Pacific 6.6% 6.5% 6.0% 5.5% 5.0%
Middle Eastern / Latin American / African 4.2% 3.9% 3.6% 3.6% 3.7%
Other / unknown 3.0% 2.0% 1.8% 2.8% 3.8%

Note: Students who reported more than one ethnic group are counted once in each group reported. This means that the total number of responses for all ethnic groups can be greater than the total number of students who stated their ethnicities. Therefore, totals may be greater than 100%.

Home area of students20232022202120202019
Dunedin 2,792 2,924 3,116 2,968 3,078
Otago / Southland 1,837 1,939 2,018 1,869 1,853
Remainder of South Island 3,683 3,854 3,901 3,651 3,662
North Island 10,180 10,486 10,300 9,368 9,180
Overseas (including NZ citizens overseas) 2,692 1,948 2,200 2,852 3,448
Unknown 18 8 14 13 19
Total21,20221,15921,54920,72121,240

International students20232022202120202019
Undergraduate 1,429 733 790 1,256 1,833
Postgraduate 818 747 900 1,099 1,139
Total2,2471,4801,6902,3552,972

Note: Australian, Tokeluan, and Cook Islands students – whether resident in their home country or New Zealand prior to commencing study – are not counted as international students, and so are not included in the above figures.

International students by home country20232022202120202019
United States of America 492 104 114 440 804
China 457 434 464 445 525
Malaysia 135 96 136 198 263
India 99 68 87 150 149
Canada 88 40 35 68 59
Kuwait 75 16 23 20 12
Singapore 62 24 44 68 67
Korea, Republic of 59 37 38 33 37
Indonesia 58 27 45 50 48
United Kingdom 50 37 36 64 64
Thailand 49 27 26 36 31
Japan 48 24 28 29 29
Vietnam 43 37 55 57 52
Germany 43 27 26 36 31
Iran, Islamic Republic of 36 43 40 43 50
Oman 35 34 38 40 37
Sri Lanka 33 53 42 42 36
Fiji 26 19 30 30 27
France 25 22 22 24 27
Samoa 24 24 25 25 27
Pakistan 22 33 30 31 36
Other 388 267 310 423 520
Total2,2471,4801,6902,3532,972

Note: Australian, Tokeluan, and Cook Islands students – whether resident in their home country or New Zealand prior to commencing study – are not counted as international students, and so are not included in the above figures.

Home area of first-year students20232022202120202019
Dunedin 548 541 654 575 577
Otago / Southland 410 444 479 435 414
Remainder of South Island 736 755 842 769 717
North Island 2,029 2,341 2,329 2,023 2,015
Overseas (including NZ citizens overseas) 255 163 154 216 302
Unknown 4 0 1 0 0
Total3,9824,2444,4594,0184,025

Academic attainment20232022202120202019
Number of programme completions      

Undergraduate diplomas and certificates

 80 93 92 104 97
Undergraduate degrees 3,707 3,381 3,596 3,693 3,517
Postgraduate diplomas and certificates 875 948 947 903 912
Postgraduate degrees 1,122 1,243 1,312 1,183 1,044
Total University5,7845,6655,9475,8335,570
Commerce graduates 764 651 764 775 709
Health Science graduates 1,757 1,889 1,831 1,835 1,691
Humanities graduates 1,260 1,229 1,279 1,289 1,237
Science graduates 1,542 1,507 1,639 1,579 1,566
Interdivisional graduates 461 389 434 405 367
Total University5,7845,6655,9475,8835,570

Staff profile

Full-time equivalent (FTE) academic and research staff20232022202120202019
Females      
Vice-Chancellor/Senior Academic Managers 4 3 3 3 3
Professors 92 81 72 64 67
Associate Professors 90 89 85 89 80
Senior Lecturers 140 151 159 155 154
Lecturers 99 95 94 99 94
Other Teaching and Teaching/Research staff 226 211 176 218 209
Research-only staff 213 211 176 218 209
Total Females852856778814793
Males      
Vice Chancellor/Senior Academic Managers 4 6 5 5 5
Professors 176 168 169 170 175
Associate Professors 120 134 127 123 115
Senior Lecturers 134 145 170 164 175
Lecturers 46 51 58 57 55
Other Teaching and Teaching/Research Staff 127 128 117 111 122
Research-only staff 147 139 126 185 171
Total Males754771772817818
Total FTE academic and research staff1,6101,6311,5521,6311,746
Full-time equivalent (FTE) professional staff
Females      
Senior Managers 12 10 11 9 9
Professional Services, Student and Community staff 1,213 1,202 1,220 1,238 1,187
Librarians and Library Assistants 83 83 85 83 86
Research Support staff and Technicians 268 289 302 305 249
Total Females1,5761,5841,6181,6351,531
Males      
Senior Managers 18 18 17 17 18
Professional Services, Student and Community staff 688 675 669 676 647
Librarians and Library Assistants 21 23 22 22 23
Research Support staff and technicians 145 150 159 166 163
Total Males872867867881851
Total FTE professional staff2,4672,4662,4932,5232,384
Total staff1,0774,0974,0444,1543,996

Note: Total staff includes staff who identify as neither female nor male. Total reflects non-rounded FTE data.

Research activities

Research activities (revised for previous years)20232022202120202019
Research outputs produced      
Total publications5,8175,8985,2886,1005,969

Land and buildings

Land (hectares)20232022202120202019
Land owned by the University (other than endownment land) 38.5 38.5 38.5 33.4 33.7
Land in Crown title for the University 10.8 10.8 10.8 10.7 10.7
Endowment land 22,243 22,243 22,243 22,243 22,243
Total Freehold Land22,29222,29222,29222,28822,288

University of Otago net assignable space (floor space in square metres)20232022202120202019
Total223,780220,801221,350221,750223,565

Note: 1. Assignable space is defined as the floor area measured from the inside face of the walls and deducting all the common-use areas (corridors, toilets, etc.) and non-inhabitable areas (lifts, stairs, service ducts, etc.).  Corridors provided within 'open plan' offices are considered to be assignable space. Note: 2. Assignable space at University-owned flats and residential colleges totals a further 56,577 m².

Library

Library collection20232022202120202019
Books (volumes) 1,256,028 1,236,618 1,232,823 1,237,274 1,235,974
Print serials subscriptions 768 784 867 944 1,093
Hocken pictures and photographs 1,145,114 1,144,334 1,143,779 1,142,817 1,141,358
Hocken linear meters of archives 10,604 10,586 10,551 10,538 10,518
Electronic serials available 342,297 257,325 254,918 233,395 199,772
Electronic books available 2,155,752 1,796,559 1,607,631 1,118,416 1,037,433
Seating places available 4,801 4,883 4,629 4,681 4,419

Back to top