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Student facts and figures

Equivalent full-time students (EFTS) 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017
Commerce 2,910 2,768 2,811 2,829 2,885
Health Sciences 6,554 6,409 6,435 6,483 6,267
Humanities 5,167 4,799 4,901 4,825 4,712
Sciences 4,720 4,532 4,543 4,435 4,334
Subtotal 19,351 18,508 18,689 18,572 18,198
Other group EFTS* 252 215 226 268 260
Total 19,603 18,722 18,915 18,840 18,457

* 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 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017
PhD 1,397 1,368 1,402 1,399 1,383
Professional Doctorates 196 180 177 142 118
Master's 1,664 1,549 1,469 1,360 1,261
Postgraduate Diplomas 985 832 942 1,063 1,072
Postgraduate Certificates 687 595 649 628 690
Graduate Diplomas 192 185 192 215 243
Bachelor Honours 478 400 396 404 366
Bachelor’s 15,429 14,782 14,728 14,677 14,448
Undergraduate Diplomas 21 22 14 17 20
Undergraduate Certificates 730 0 0 0 0
Certificate of Proficiency 730 1,151 1,1576 1,455 1,492
Interest Only 12 5 13 5 11
Foundation Studies 299 236 263 298 305
Other 0 0 0 0 0
Total 21,549 20,721 21,240 21,108 20,838

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 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017
Female 13,094 12,501 12,711 12,588 12,272
Male 8,398 8,187 8,510 8,519 8,565
Gender Diverse 57 33 19 1 1
Total 21,549 20,721 21,240 21,108 20,838

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First-year and returning students 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017
First year 4,459 4,018 4,025 4,023 3,770
Returning 17,090 17,215 17,085 17,068 16,812
Total 21,549 20,721 21,240 21,108 20,838

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Ethnicity of students 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017
European / Pākehā 74.7% 72.9% 71.5% 71.4% 72.4%
Māori 11.7% 11.0% 10.3% 9.9% 9.3%
Asian 19.3% 20.0% 20.3% 20.5% 19.8%
Pacific 6.0% 5.5% 5.0% 4.7% 4.5%
Middle Eastern / Latin American / African 3.6% 3.6% 3.7% 3.6% 3.4%
Other / unknown 1.8% 2.8% 3.8% 3.7% 3.9%

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 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017
Dunedin 3,116 2,968 3,078 2,999 3,043
Otago / Southland 2,018 1,869 1,853 1,858 1,860
Remainder of South Island 3,901 3,651 3,662 3,796 3,813
North Island 10,300 9,368 9,180 8,946 8,737
Overseas (including NZ citizens overseas) 2,200 2,852 3,448 3,482 3,348
Unknown 14 13 19 27 37
Total 21,549 20,721 21,240 21,108 20,838

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International students 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017
Undergraduate 790 1,256 1,833 1,819 1,807
Postgraduate 900 1,099 1,139 1,096 1,030
Total 1,690 2,355 2,972 2,915 2,837

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 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017
China 464 445 525 507 500
Malaysia 136 198 263 301 241
United States of America 114 440 804 772 798
India 87 150 149 133 130
Vietnam 55 57 52 40 27
Indonesia 45 50 48 43 39
Singapore 44 68 70 68 52
Sri Lanka 42 42 36 29 23
Iran, Islamic Republic of 40 43 50 52 55
Oman 38 40 37 33 27
Korea, Republic of 38 33 37 29 30
United Kingdom 36 64 64 85 89
Canada 35 68 59 71 67
Fiji 30 30 27 23 21
Pakistan 30 31 36 34 27
Japan 28 29 29 35 37
Thailand 26 36 31 34 31
Samoa 25 25 27 18 24
Kuwait 23 20 12 4 4
Nepal 22 26 27 21 16
Bangladesh 22 24 27 26 23
Other 310 423 520 491 472
France 26 32 35 46
Germany 29 47 59 69
Total 1,690 2,353 2,972 2,915 2,837

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 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017
Dunedin 654 575 577 573 578
Otago / Southland 479 435 414 462 428
Remainder of South Island 842 769 717 745 714
North Island 2,329 2,023 2,015 1,950 1,794
Overseas (including NZ citizens overseas) 154 216 302 293 255
Unknown 1 0 0 0 1
Total 4,459 4,018 4,025 4,023 3,770

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Academic attainment 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017
Number of programme completions

Undergraduate diplomas and certificates

 92 104 97 130 143
Undergraduate degrees 3,596 3,693 3,517 3,395 3,368
Postgraduate diplomas and certificates 947 903 912 940 969
Postgraduate degrees 1,312 1,183 1,044 1,054 1,056
Total University 5,947 5,833 5,570 5,519 5,536
Commerce graduates 764 775 709 724 700
Health Science graduates 1,831 1,835 1,691 1,768 1,674
Humanities graduates 1,279 1,289 1,237 1,099 1,275
Science graduates 1,639 1,579 1,566 1,541 1,494
Interdivisional graduates 434 405 367 387 393
Total University 5,947 5,883 5,570 5,519 5,536

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Staff profile

Full-time equivalent (FTE) academic and research staff 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017
Females 778 814 888 792 743
Males 772 817 857 804 810
Total FTE academic and research staff 1,552 1,631 1,746 1,596 1,552
Full-time equivalent (FTE) professional staff
Females 1,618 1,635 1,434 1,612 1,604
Males 867 881 812 872 872
Total FTE professional staff
 2,493 2,523 2,246 2,484 2,476
Total staff 4,044 4,154 3,996 4,080 4,029

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

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Research activities

Research activities (revised for previous years) 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017
Research outputs produced
Total publications 5,309 5,559 5,375 5,837 5,354

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Land and buildings

Land (hectares) 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017
Land owned by the University (other than endownment land) 35.43 33.4 33.7 33.9 33
Land in Crown title for the University 10.81 10.7 10.7 10.7 10.7
Endowment land 22,243 22,243 22,243 22,243 22,243
Total Freehold Land
 22,289 22,287 22,288 22,288 22,287

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University of Otago net assignable space (floor space in square metres) 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017
Total 221,350 221,750 223,565 220,495 219,784

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 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017
Books (volumes) 1,232,823 1,237,274 1,235,974 1,231,268 1,224,672
Print serials subscriptions 867 944 1,093 2,776 2,855
Hocken pictures and photographs 1,143,779 1,142,817 1,141,358 1,137,522 1,136,251
Hocken linear meters of archives 10,551 10,538 10,518 10,415 10,272
Electronic serials available 254,918 233,395 199,772 163,586 169,530
Electronic books available 1,607,631 1,118,416 1,037,433 953,812 850,783
Seating places available 4,629 4,681 4,419 4,584 4,500

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