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Student facts and figures

Equivalent full-time students (EFTS) 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018
Commerce 2,853 2,910 2,768 2,811 2,829
Health Sciences 6,350 6,554 6,409 6,435 6,483
Humanities 5,035 5,167 4,799 4,901 4,825
Sciences 4,688 4,720 4,532 4,543 4,435
Subtotal 18,926 19,351 18,508 18,689 18,572
Foundation Studies* 249 252 215 226 268
Total 19,174 19,603 18,722 18,915 18,840

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

Enrolment by qualification type 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018
PhD 1,352 1,397 1,368 1,402 1,399
Professional Doctorates 201 196 180 177 142
Master's 1,538 1,664 1,549 1,469 1,360
Postgraduate Diplomas 880 985 832 942 1,063
Postgraduate Certificates 607 687 595 649 628
Graduate Diplomas 164 192 185 192 215
Bachelor Honours 471 478 400 396 404
Bachelor's 15,493 15,429 14,782 14,728 14,677
Undergraduate Diplomas 32 21 22 14 17
Certificate of Proficiency 641 730 1,151 1,1576 1,455
Interest Only 4 12 5 13 5
Foundation Studies 268 299 236 263 298
Other 0 0 0 0 0
Total 21,159 21,549 20,721 21,240 21,108

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

Gender of students 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018
Female 12,893 13,094 12,501 12,711 12,588
Male 8,175 8,398 8,187 8,510 8,519
Gender Diverse 91 57 33 19 1
Total 21,159 21,549 20,721 21,240 21,108

First-year and returning students 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018
First year 4,244 4,459 4,018 4,025 4,023
Returning 16,915 17,090 17,215 17,085 17,068
Total 21,159 21,549 20,721 21,240 21,108

Ethnicity of students 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018
European / Pākehā 74.7% 74.7% 72.9% 71.5% 71.4%
Māori 12.4% 11.7% 11.0% 10.3% 9.9%
Asian 19.1% 19.3% 20.0% 20.3% 20.5%
Pacific 6.5% 6.0% 5.5% 5.0% 4.7%
Middle Eastern / Latin American / African 3.9% 3.6% 3.6% 3.7% 3.6%
Other / unknown 2.0% 1.8% 2.8% 3.8% 3.7%

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 students 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018
Dunedin 2,924 3,116 2,968 3,078 2,999
Otago / Southland 1,939 2,018 1,869 1,853 1,858
Remainder of South Island 3,854 3,901 3,651 3,662 3,796
North Island 10,486 10,300 9,368 9,180 8,946
Overseas (including NZ citizens overseas) 1,948 2,200 2,852 3,448 3,482
Unknown 8 14 13 19 27
Total 21,159 21,549 20,721 21,240 21,108

International students 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018
Undergraduate 733 790 1,256 1,833 1,819
Postgraduate 747 900 1,099 1,139 1,096
Total 1,480 1,690 2,355 2,972 2,915

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 country 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018
China 434 464 445 525 507
United States of America 104 114 440 804 772
Malaysia 96 136 198 263 301
India 68 87 150 149 133
Sri Lanka 53 42 42 36 29
Iran, Islamic Republic of 43 40 43 50 52
Canada 40 35 68 59 71
Vietnam 37 55 57 52 40
Korea, Republic of 37 38 33 37 29
United Kingdom 37 36 64 64 85
Oman 34 38 40 37 33
Pakistan 33 30 31 36 34
Indonesia 27 45 50 48 43
Thailand 27 26 36 31 34
Singapore 24 44 68 67 70
Japan 24 28 29 29 35
Samoa 24 25 25 27 18
Bangladesh 22 22 24 27 26
Fiji 19 30 30 27 23
Kuwait 16 23 20 12 4
Nepal 14 22 26 27 21
Other 267 310 423 520 491
Total 1,480 1,690 2,353 2,972 2,915

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 students 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018
Dunedin 541 654 575 577 573
Otago / Southland 444 479 435 414 462
Remainder of South Island 755 842 769 717 745
North Island 2,341 2,329 2,023 2,015 1,950
Overseas (including NZ citizens overseas) 163 154 216 302 293
Unknown 0 1 0 0 0
Total 4,244 4,459 4,018 4,025 4,023

Academic attainment 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018
Number of programme completions          

Undergraduate diplomas and certificates

 93 92 104 97 130
Undergraduate degrees 3,381 3,596 3,693 3,517 3,395
Postgraduate diplomas and certificates 948 947 903 912 940
Postgraduate degrees 1,243 1,312 1,183 1,044 1,054
Total University 5,665 5,947 5,833 5,570 5,519
Commerce graduates 651 764 775 709 724
Health Science graduates 1,889 1,831 1,835 1,691 1,768
Humanities graduates 1,229 1,279 1,289 1,237 1,099
Science graduates 1,507 1,639 1,579 1,566 1,541
Interdivisional graduates 389 434 405 367 387
Total University 5,665 5,947 5,883 5,570 5,519

Staff profile

Full-time equivalent (FTE) academic and research staff 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018
Females 856 778 814 888 792
Males 771 772 817 857 804
Total FTE academic and research staff 1,631 1,552 1,631 1,746 1,596
Full-time equivalent (FTE) professional staff
Females 1,584 1,618 1,635 1,434 1,612
Males 867 867 881 812 872
Total FTE professional staff 2,466 2,493 2,523 2,246 2,484
Total staff 4,097 4,044 4,154 3,996 4,080

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) 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018
Research outputs produced          
Total publications 6,011 5,309 5,559 5,375 5,837

Land and buildings

Land (hectares) 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018
Land owned by the University (other than endownment land) 48.3 48.5 33.4 33.7 33.9
Land in Crown title for the University 10.7 10.7 10.7 10.7 10.7
Endowment land 22,243 22,243 22,243 22,243 22,243
Total Freehold Land 22,302 22,302 22,287 22,288 22,288

University of Otago net assignable space (floor space in square metres) 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018
Total 220,801 221,350 221,750 223,565 220,495

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 collection 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018
Books (volumes) 1,236,618 1,232,823 1,237,274 1,235,974 1,231,268
Print serials subscriptions 784 867 944 1,093 2,776
Hocken pictures and photographs 1,144,334 1,143,779 1,142,817 1,141,358 1,137,522
Hocken linear meters of archives 10,586 10,551 10,538 10,518 10,415
Electronic serials available 257,325 254,918 233,395 199,772 163,586
Electronic books available 1,796,559 1,607,631 1,118,416 1,037,433 953,812
Seating places available 4,883 4,629 4,681 4,419 4,584

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