Otago offers a wide range of coursework masters' degrees which allow you to complete a taught postgraduate degree in 12–15 months.
Enquire now and jump-start your career with professional development from New Zealand's leading postgraduate research university.
Commerce
Master of Business Administration (MBA)
The Otago MBA is offered in a variety of formats to fit your lifestyle – online, full-time on-campus, part-time on-campus, or Executive MBA. Otago's MBA has a strong focus on managerial relevance, practical application, and your own personal development.
Master of Business Data Science (MBusDataSc)
A one-year masters qualification consisting of seven taught papers plus either an applied or research project that enables you to meet the needs of industry, and manage and assess large scale data issues.
Master of Economics (MEcon)
The MEcon can be studied either full-time (12 months) or part-time starting either Semester One (Feb) or Semester Two (July). It involves both coursework and a research dissertation and is aimed at students with an undergraduate major in economics that includes a solid grounding in mathematical economics and econometrics. It is designed to equip you with the skills needed by economic practitioners and policymakers, as well as researchers and PhD candidates in economics.
Master of Entrepreneurship (MEntr)
A fifteen-month programme designed to support those with an entrepreneurial spirit who want to start an innovative new venture and who aspire to the entrepreneurial lifestyle.
Master of Finance (MFinc)
A one-year master's qualification consisting of seven taught papers plus a written project, designed for people seeking a career in the finance industry or for financial specialists in non-financial firms.
Master of International Business (MIntBus)
A one-year master's qualification consisting of seven taught papers plus a written project (applied or research). The MIntBus is designed to provide you with the knowledge and practical skills to work across cultural boundaries in the expanding global business environment, and to advance your career opportunities.
Master of Marketing (MMart)
The MMart is a one-year or 18-month full-time degree that encompasses both coursework and research. Students have the opportunity to choose between an academic or an industry focus for their research project. Graduates of the MMart programme will be prepared for a professional career in the public or private sector. The MMart can also be used as a pathway to doctoral-level study in marketing for those students successfully completing BSNS 580.
Master of Sustainable Business (MSusBus)
This 12-month master's is an interdisciplinary programme drawing on emerging research in the field to provide you with an advanced qualification in sustainability, and its relevance to the business community. As a graduate you will have a wide range of career options such as sustainability managers for industry, business analysts, sustainable business consultants, and sustainable development managers.
Master of Tourism (MTour)
A one-year taught master's degree. Gain a detailed and high level critical understanding of tourism, and related areas, as both an industry and social phenomenon.
Health Sciences
Master of Nursing Science
The Master of Nursing Science (MNSc) is a professional master's degree open to graduates of any discipline with a B grade average in the final two years of their degree offering the opportunity to study nursing at the University of Otago, Christchurch campus through an intensive two-year full-time programme.
Clinical placements are undertaken at various South Island locations with clinical experience gained in a range of health care settings such as community and family / whānau health, acute care, mental health, and aged care.
Master of Aviation Medicine
Otago's Master of Aviation Medicine is now the international benchmark qualification for doctors wanting to be work as a specialist medical adviser for a major airline, civil aviation safety authority, air ambulance/retrieval service, or in military aviation.
En route to completing the master's degree, students have the choice of completing the Postgraduate Diploma in Occupational Medicine (the academic entrée to high specialist registration) or Postgraduate Diploma in Aeromedical Retrieval and Transport (providing key competencies in critical care in the air). This internationally-respected programme is taught online, with students participating in learning using a range of media and activities.
Master of Occupational Medicine
The Otago Master of Occupational Medicine provides recognised higher professional development for doctors worldwide wanting to specialise in occupational medicine. The range of core competencies provide graduates with the necessary skills to work as a occupational medicine consultant in a range of industries and settings worldwide.
This internationally-respected and accredited programme is taught online, with students participating in learning using a range of media and activities.
Master of Physiotherapy
A professional degree for existing physiotherapists.
Master of Clinical Pharmacy
A professional degree for registered pharmacists.
Master of Public Health
The next step for those with a Diploma in Public Health looking for an internationally-recognised qualification for practitioners in the field.
Humanities
Master of Archaeological Practice
The Master of Archaeological Practice is an applied, professional qualification – linking theory with practice – that aims to develop our future leaders' knowledge and experience in archaeological heritage management.
Master of Arts (Coursework)
The Master of Arts (Coursework) programme is designed to give students the balance of specific subject knowledge plus broad-based skills employers are looking for. The MA (Coursework) will take either 12 months or three semesters of full-time study to complete. It can also be studied part-time.
Master of Bioethics and Health Law
For Law, Medicine or Philosophy graduates - a degree which examines a range of issues relating to the intersection of law, ethics and medicine.
Master of Chaplaincy
The Master of Chaplaincy is designed as a professional qualification for those who serve as chaplains in a variety of settings and who seek advanced professional education to enhance their work, and for those who want to train to be chaplains. Only available through Distance Learning.
Master of Education and Learning
The Master of Education and Learning (MEdLn) is designed to meet the professional development needs of teachers in the early childhood, primary, and secondary sectors, and to help teachers further develop their critical knowledge and understanding of issues related to teaching and learning in Aotearoa New Zealand, including their own teaching practices.
Master of Indigenous Studies
New Zealand's only one-year online degree (also available on campus) for those working with or concerned about the issues affecting indigenous peoples. This course can be studied full or part-time.
Master of International Development and Planning
The Master of International Development and Planning (MIDP) is a 12-month, full-time course work master's degree, that includes a research dissertation. The degree uniquely combines an enhanced understanding of development issues with professional planning skills and competencies.
Master of International Studies
Master of International Studies graduates are employed in leading positions all over the world – in government service, in NGOs and in business.
This degree prepares candidates for leadership roles in professions that require broad international expertise: diplomacy, the public service, teaching, journalism and business.
Master of Peace and Conflict Studies
Otago's National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies is the only one if its kind in New Zealand, and its new master's degree is one of a very few such programmes in Australasia.
If you want to be a change-maker, to work in development and peace building, come and join the passionate faculty and their international student-base for this cutting-edge multidisciplinary programme.
Master of Politics
For students of politics and associated disciplines, our Master of Politics provides an exciting opportunity to develop valuable communication and analytical skills whilst obtaining a highly sought-after postgraduate qualification that combines coursework with a research dissertation.
It is designed to provide academic preparation for graduates seeking careers in professions such as diplomacy, the public service, teaching, journalism, business, or policy analysis, research and development. It also serves as a foundation qualification for graduates interested in advancing to a PhD.
Master of Teaching and Learning
This Masters' level qualification enables top graduates from any discipline to become a qualified Primary or Secondary school teacher.
The programme includes placement in schools, bringing together theory and practice.
Sciences
Master of Wildlife Management
Our new coursework Master of Wildlife Management programme offers extensive fieldwork grounded in long-established relationships with the national wildlife management community.
It is an internationally-recognised professional qualification, and takes 15 months to complete.
Master of Applied Science
The MAppSc is designed for students who want an interdisciplinary programme underpinned by science that delivers versatile skills relevant to employers.
Options emphasise commercialisation, workplace-based projects or independent study.
Master of Sport Development and Management
The MSpDM is designed for individuals who are employed in Sport Development and Management and want to upskill for professional development reasons.
It is also intended as a pathway for those students graduating with a BSc or BA majoring in Sport Management and Development (or comparable qualification) into employment in the field.
Higher Education
Master of Higher Education
Is this the right time for you to become an educational leader and further your academic career?
The Master of Higher Education will give you a deeper and broader understanding of all aspects of teaching at this level. Be more effective in your teaching, and more empowered in your career, while studying with one of the oldest departments in the world, recognised for teaching and research in Higher Education.
For more information on all things postgraduate, visit our postgraduate pages.