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Student facts and figures

Equivalent full-time students (EFTS) 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016
Commerce 2,768 2,811 2,829 2,885 2,954
Health Sciences 6,409 6,435 6,483 6,267 6,089
Humanities 4,799 4,901 4,825 4,712 4,807
Sciences 4,532 4,543 4,435 4,334 4,437
Subtotal 18,508 18,689 18,572 18,198 18,287
Other group EFTS* 215 226 268 260 259
Total 18,722 18,915 18,840 18,457 18,547

* 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 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016
PhD 1,368 1,402 1,399 1,383 1,325
Professional Doctorates 180 177 142 118 86
Master's 1,549 1,469 1,360 1,261 1,287
Postgraduate Diplomas 832 942 1,063 1,072 1,016
Postgraduate Certificates 595 649 628 690 638
Graduate Diplomas 185 192 215 243 294
Bachelor Honours 400 396 404 366 385
Bachelor’s 14,782 14,728 14,677 14,448 14,598
Undergraduate Diplomas 22 14 17 20 29
Undergraduate Certificates 0 0 0 0 0
Certificate of Proficiency 1,151 1,1576 1,455 1,492 1,493
Interest Only 5 13 5 11 1
Foundation Studies 236 263 298 305 292
Other 0 0 0 0 0
Total 20,721 21,240 21,108 20,838 20,814

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 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016
Female 12,501 12,711 12,588 12,272 12,147
Male 8,187 8,510 8,519 8,565 8,665
Gender Diverse 33 19 1 1 2
Total 20,721 21,240 21,108 20,838 20,814

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First-year and returning students 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016
First year 4,018 4,025 4,023 3,770 4,002
Returning 17,215 17,085 17,068 16,812 16,863
Total 20,721 21,240 21,108 20,838 20,814

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Ethnicity of students 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016
European / Pākehā 72.9% 71.5% 71.4% 72.4% 73.1%
Māori 11.0% 10.3% 9.9% 9.3% 8.9%
Asian 20.0% 20.3% 20.5% 19.8% 19.2%
Pacific 5.5% 5.0% 4.7% 4.5% 4.2%
Middle Eastern / Latin American / African 3.6% 3.7% 3.6% 3.4% 3.4%
Other / unknown 2.8% 3.8% 3.7% 3.9% 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%.

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Home area of students 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016
Dunedin 2,968 3,078 2,999 3,043 3,127
Otago / Southland 1,869 1,853 1,858 1,860 1,969
Remainder of South Island 3,651 3,662 3,796 3,813 3,903
North Island 9,368 9,180 8,946 8,737 8,570
Overseas (including NZ citizens overseas) 2,852 3,448 3,482 3,348 3,191
Unknown 13 19 27 37 54
Total 20,721 21,240 21,108 20,838 20,814

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International students 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016
Undergraduate 1,256 1,833 1,819 1,807 1,810
Postgraduate 1,099 1,139 1,096 1,030 913
Total 2,355 2,972 2,915 2,837 2,723

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 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016
China 445 525 507 500 490
United States of America 440 804 772 798 721
Other 423 520 491 472 510
Malaysia 198 263 301 241 241
India 150 149 133 130 118
Singapore 68 70 68 52 45
Canada 68 59 71 67 54
United Kingdom 64 64 85 89 86
Vietnam 57 52 40 27 25
Indonesia 50 48 43 39 32
Iran, Islamic Republic of 43 50 52 55 53
Sri Lanka 42 36 29 23 14
Oman 40 37 33 27 30
Thailand 36 31 34 31 30
Korea, Republic of 33 37 29 30 31
Pakistan 31 36 34 27 21
Fiji 30 27 23 21 18
Germany 29 47 59 69 72
Japan 29 29 35 37 44
France 26 32 35 46 52
Nepal 26 27 21 16 12
Samoa 25 27 18 24 19
Total 2,353 2,972 2,915 2,837 2,723

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 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016
Dunedin 575 577 573 578 616
Otago / Southland 435 414 462 428 432
Remainder of South Island 769 717 745 714 831
North Island 2,023 2,015 1,950 1,794 1,826
Overseas (including NZ citizens overseas) 216 302 293 255 277
Unknown 0 0 0 1 20
Total 4,018 4,025 4,023 3,770 4,002

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Academic attainment 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016
Number of programme completions

Undergraduate diplomas and certificates

 104 97 130 143 183
Undergraduate degrees 3,693 3,517 3,395 3,368 3,467
Postgraduate diplomas and certificates 903 912 940 969 995
Postgraduate degrees 1,183 1,044 1,054 1,056 969
Total University 5,833 5,570 5,519 5,536 5,614
Commerce graduates 775 709 724 700 671
Health Science graduates 1,835 1,691 1,768 1,674 1,790
Humanities graduates 1,289 1,237 1,099 1,275 1,290
Science graduates 1,579 1,566 1,541 1,494 1,475
Interdivisional graduates 405 367 387 393 388
Total University 5,883 5,570 5,519 5,536 5,614

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Staff profile

Full-time equivalent (FTE) academic and research staff 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016
Females 814 888 792 743 715
Males 817 857 804 810 817
Total FTE academic and research staff 1,631 1,746 1,596 1,552 1,532
Full-time equivalent (FTE) professional staff
Females 1,635 1,434 1,612 1,604 1,489
Males 881 812 872 872 841
Total FTE professional staff
 2,523 2,246 2,484 2,476 2,330
Total staff 4,154 3,996 4,080 4,029 3,862

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) 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016
Research outputs produced
Total publications 5,559 5,375 5,837 5,354 5,125

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Land and buildings

Land (hectares) 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016
Land owned by the University (other than endownment land) 33.4 33.7 33.9 33 32.1
Land in Crown title for the University 10.7 10.7 10.7 10.7 11.6
Endowment land 22,243 22,243 22,243 22,243 22,244
Total Freehold Land
 22,287 22,288 22,288 22,287 22,288

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University of Otago net assignable space (floor space in square metres) 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016
Total 221,750 223,565 220,495 219,784 220,408

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 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016
Books (volumes) 1,237,274 1,235,974 1,231,268 1,224,672 1,217,737
Print serials subscriptions 944 1,093 2,776 2,855 2,915
Hocken pictures and photographs 1,142,817 1,141,358 1,137,522 1,136,251 1,131,493
Hocken linear meters of archives 10,538 10,518 10,415 10,272 10,178
Electronic serials available 233,395 199,772 163,586 169,530 152,490
Electronic books available 1,118,416 1,037,433 953,812 850,783 779,443
Seating places available 4,681 4,419 4,584 4,500 4,392

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