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Student facts and figures

Equivalent full-time students (EFTS) 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015
Commerce 2,811 2,829 2,885 2,954 2,928
Health Sciences 6,435 6,483 6,267 6,089 5,871
Humanities 4,901 4,825 4,712 4,807 4,944
Sciences 4,543 4,435 4,334 4,437 4,413
Subtotal 18,689 18,572 18,198 18,287 18,156
Other group EFTS* 226 268 260 259 256
Total 18,915 18,840 18,457 18,547 18,421

* Other Group EFTS comprise EFTS enrolled in the Foundation Studies programme of the University subsidiary Foundation Studies Limited.

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Enrolment by qualification type 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015
PhD 1,402 1,399 1,383 1,325 1,307
Professional Doctorates 177 142 118 86 80
Master's 1,469 1,360 1,261 1,287 1,224
Postgraduate Diplomas 942 1,063 1,072 1,016 946
Postgraduate Certificates 649 628 690 638 596
Graduate Diplomas 192 215 243 294 314
Bachelor Honours 396 404 366 385 451
Bachelor’s 14,728 14,677 14,448 14,598 14,559
Undergraduate Diplomas 14 17 20 29 39
Undergraduate Certificates 0 0 0 0 0
Certificate of Proficiency

1,576

 1,455 1,492 1,493 1,442
Interest Only 13 5 11 1 4
Foundation Studies 263 298 305 292 316
Other 0 0 0 0 4
Total 21,240 21,108 20,838 20,814 20,601

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

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Gender of students 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015
Female 12,711 12,588 12,272 12,147 11,879
Male 8,510 8,519 8,565 8,665 8,720
Gender Diverse 19 1 1 2 2
Total 21,240 21,108 20,838 20,814 20,601

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First-year and returning students 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015
First year 4,025 4,023 3,770 4,002 3,738
Returning 17,215 17,085 17,068 16,812 16,863
Total 21,240 21,108 20,838 20,814 20,601

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Ethnicity of students 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015
European / Pākehā 71.5% 71.4% 72.4% 73.1% 73.4%
Māori 10.3% 9.9% 9.3% 8.9% 8.5%
Asian 20.3% 20.5% 19.8% 19.2% 18.8%
Pacific 5.0% 4.7% 4.5% 4.2% 3.9%
Middle Eastern / Latin American / African 3.7% 3.6% 3.4% 3.4% 3.6%
Other / unknown 3.8% 3.7% 3.9% 3.7% 3.6%

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%.

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Home area of students 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015
Dunedin 3,078 2,999 3,043 3,127 3,182
Otago / Southland 1,853 1,858 1,860 1,969 2,033
Remainder of South Island 3,662 3,796 3,813 3,903 3,828
North Island 9,180 8,946 8,737 8,570 8,482
Overseas (including NZ citizens overseas) 3,448

3,482

 3,348 3,191 3,014
Unknown 19 27 37 54 62
Total 21,240 21,108 20,838 20,814 20,601

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International students 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015
Undergraduate 1,833 1,819 1,807 1,810 1,768
Postgraduate 1,139 1,096 1,030 913 824
Total 2,972 2,915 2,837 2,723 2,592

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.

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International students by home country 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015
United States of America 804 772 798 721 656
China 525 507 500 488 458
Malaysia 263

301

 241 241 254
India 149 133 130 118 103
United Kingdom 69 85 89 86 100
Singapore 67 70 68 52 45
Canada 59 71 67 54 54
Vietnam 52 40 27 25 26
Iran, Islamic Republic of 50 52 55 53 61
Indonesia 48 43 39 32 20
Germany 47 59 69 72 62
Oman 37 33 27 30 30
Korea, Republic of 37 29 30

31

 32
Pakistan 36 34 27 21 21
Sri Lanka 36 29 23 14 10
Brunei Darussalam 35 38 41 52 56
France 32 35 46 52 40
Thailand 31 34 31 30 32
Norway 31 34 30 34 25
Denmark 29 20 21 24 14
Japan 29 35 37 44 51
Other 506 455 431 426 392
Total 2,972 2,915 2,837 2,723 2,592

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.

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Home area of first-year students 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015
Dunedin 577 573 578 616 554
Otago / Southland 414 462 428 432 416
Remainder of South Island 717 745 714 831 768
North Island 2,015 1,950 1,794 1,826 1,722
Overseas (including NZ citizens overseas) 302 293 255 277 263
Unknown 0 0 1 20 15
Total 4,025 4,023 3,770 4,002 3,738

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Academic attainment 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015
Number of programme completions

Undergraduate diplomas and certificates

 97 130 143 183 168
Undergraduate degrees 3,517 3,395 3,368 3,467 3,566
Postgraduate diplomas and certificates 912 940 969 995 841
Postgraduate degrees 1,044 1,054 1,056 969 989
Total University 5,570 5,519 5,536 5,614 3,564
Commerce graduates 709 724 700 671 745
Health Science graduates 1,691 1,768 1,674 1,790 1,576
Humanities graduates 1,237 1,099 1,275 1,290 1,419
Science graduates 1,566 1,541 1,494 1,475 1,455
Interdivisional graduates 367 387 393 388 369
Total University 5,570 5,519 5,536 5,614 5,564

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Staff profile

Full-time equivalent (FTE) academic and research staff 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015
Females 642 567 545 535 522
Males 709 640 651 662 668
Total FTE academic and research staff 1,351 1,207 1,196 1,196 1,190
Full-time equivalent (FTE) research-only staff
Females 245 225 198 181 246
Males 148 164 159 155 182
Total FTE research-only staff 393 389 357 336 429
Full-time equivalent (FTE) professional staff
Females 1,434 1,612 1,604 1,489 1,403
Males 812 872 872 841 781
Total FTE professional staff
 2,246 2,484 2,476 2,330 2,184
Total staff 3,396 4,080 4,029 3,862 3,803

Note: Total staff includes staff who identify as neither female nor male.

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Research activities

Research activities (revised for previous years) 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015
Research outputs produced
Total publications 5,375 5,837 5,354 5,125 5,513

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Land and buildings

Land (hectares) 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015
Land owned by the University (other than endownment land) 33.7 33.9 33 32.1 33.7
Land in Crown title for the University 10.7 10.7 10.7 11.6 11.6
Endowment land 22,243 22,243 22,243 22,244 22,243
Total Freehold Land
 22,288 22,288 22,287 22,288 22,288

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University of Otago net assignable space (floor space in square metres) 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015
Commerce 7,662 8,633 8,453
Health Sciences 63,751 65,558 65,645
Humanities 19,364 19,702 20,027
Science 42,169 41,791 42,018
Administration and other 70,966 68,771 72,124
Corporate 759 759 759
Information services 15,113 15,195 15,687
Total 223,565 220,495 219,784 220,408 224,713

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.

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Library

Library collection 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015
Books (volumes) 1,235,974 1,231,268 1,224,672 1,217,737 1,216,154
Serials (items) 438,188 455,644 459,541 467,117
Print serials subscriptions 1,093 2,776 2,855 2,915 3,247
Hocken pictures and photographs 1,141,358 1,137,522 1,136,251 1,131,493 1,131,458
Hocken linear meters of archives 10,518 10,415 10,272 10,178 10,034
Electronic serials available 199,772 163,586 169,530 152,490 171,199
Electronic books available 1,037,433 953,812 850,783 779,443 744,321
Seating places available 4,419 4,584 4,500 4,392 4,388

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