Not completely. It might be more accurate to say they are being thrown a little less wide.
All the same, the institution's newly tightened enrolment policy has some claiming "a dramatic change in New Zealand's history" and "another nail in the coffin for open entry".
Contrary views hold that it is just an economically pragmatic case of "when push comes to shove", an inevitable result of government policy.
In a move designed to halt the rapid growth in first-year domestic student numbers, the university will introduce a two-tier enrolment system from 2011.
Those with strong academic records based on their year-12 secondary school results will be guaranteed entry; others will be ranked by virtue of academic results and other factors.
Although the university has yet to disclose exactly what those "other factors" might be, the Tertiary Education Strategy, the blueprint for our universities' policies, clearly states the Government wants to see more people under the age of 25 achieving at degree level. This is particularly so when government funding for university places is tight - as it is at the moment.
Whether that translates to more young bottoms (therefore fewer older ones) on lecture hall seats in North Dunedin remains to be seen.
However, in its draft document submitted to the University of Otago council last week, the working party charged with looking into how best to manage enrolments for 2011 and beyond reiterated that focus, with it targeting "a higher proportion of under-25s and full-time students, a higher proportion of Maori and Pacific students and more who progress to postgraduate study".
One of the fundamental changes here is that under the Education Act (1989), those over the age of 20 have the right to attend university without a formal qualification. But under the university's new policy they fall into the category "special admissions", and may well have to jump through the same hoops as other hopeful students.
The working party acknowledged the Act provision but suggests the enrolment of special-admission students might be limited "in the context of formal enrolment capping". Programmes currently open-entry will thus become closed.
Precisely how many people might be excluded is not possible to say, the university contends. A second-tier student desperately wanting to go to university could probably still get there. They might just have to settle for a second-choice area of study.
All this tightening of criteria has largely been prompted by economic conditions. The University of Otago is battening down, attempting to weather a couple of fronts: limited government spending in the tertiary sector and a growth in student demand partly caused by a lack of jobs.
Last year, the University of Otago's total roll was 21,507. Although official figures have yet to be released, the Otago Daily Times understands the university's roll has reached 22,000 for the first time.
Domestic enrolments at Otago this year are 4.4% higher than in 2009.
By the end of this year, the university is expected to exceed the level funded by the Tertiary Education Commission by 520 to 550 equivalent full-time students (efts). In last month's Budget, the Government announced an extra 765 efts would be funded for New Zealand universities. Otago has yet to announce what its slice of that pie will be.
The University of Otago is not alone in its attempts to limit enrolment growth. Most other New Zealand universities are facing similar roll pressure.
According to the Tertiary Education Commission, the number of learners in formal education has increased by an average of 6% per year for the past decade. Last year, 136,000 people were enrolled in bachelor-level qualifications and 39,000 in post-graduate study.
Massey University recently joined Victoria University in restricting admissions for domestic students for the second semester, while also moving towards limited entry for all courses from 2011 onwards. Auckland, too, put in undergraduate restrictions at the start of this year.
However, as Wellington-based tertiary education advisor Dave Guerin points out, Otago does not have the population base of Auckland. It relies on people coming from all over New Zealand.
"Until now, it has never been able to be picky about its enrolments. It is actually quite a big issue for Otago as to whether it can survive and thrive in a restricted-enrolment world," says Mr Guerin, who consults for various education institutions and government agencies. "Does it have the luxury of setting tight standards?"
Time will tell. But from next year, access to university study in Otago will get tougher.
Pete Hodgson, Labour MP for Dunedin North and former Minister for Tertiary Education (2007- 2008), says the move to limit enrolments is not the university's fault.
"It is allowed to carry 3% of its role as unfunded, so it is allowed to go 103% of its negotiated roll. It is at about 102% or 103% this year so it can't go any higher.
"They [universities] go to the Tertiary Education Commission and say `our understanding is that we are likely to receive an increase of, say, 2% of enrolments this year - therefore we request an increase of 2% in our revenue for the number of students'.
"The underlying drive for this change is that the university has not been funded for the number of students who want to go there. When all else is set to one side, that's the key issue."
Vice-chancellor Prof Sir David Skegg said much the same thing last week: "All we know is roughly how many students we will be funded for next year, and that if we exceed that number by more than 3% there could be repercussions".
Whatever the drivers of the change, the effect is regarded by some as significant.
"It is a dramatic change in New Zealand's history," Mr Hodgson contends.
"That is not to say there haven't been restrictions on courses in the past. There have - medicine, dentistry, second-year law ... - and on it goes. But this change is significant in a historical sense because until now any New Zealander has been able to go to university so long as they have University Entrance or the now-equivalent NCEA 2 or have a reached the age of 20.
"Right through our history, New Zealanders have had access to university. That raises the question about whether they should go to university. The way we have managed that in the past is to say there will be a degree of support in your first year and if you don't do well enough in your course work, that support will be withdrawn in your second and subsequent years," Mr Hodgson says.
"Now universities - Otago included but Victoria is doing the same as is Auckland and others will follow in due course as their money runs out - are being forced to put enrolment procedures in place."
All this is going on within the context of the Tertiary Education Strategy, which sets out to provide learning opportunities for New Zealanders "of all backgrounds".
Minister for Tertiary Education Steven Joyce says the strategy does have a goal to see appropriate tertiary learning being available to New Zealanders.
"However, this learning takes place in any number of contexts, including universities, polytechs, private training organisations, wananga, and in-work training," he said via email from Shanghai, where he is on government business this week.
"Universities have restricted access to some courses for many years. When the previous government introduced capped funding, partially to control tertiary costs that were blowing out because of interest-free loans, it was likely that that restricted access to courses would become more common," Mr Joyce said.
"The impact of the recession has grown tertiary demand, and the Government has responded by funding record numbers of core places at universities and polytechs in 2010 and higher again in 2011. We are funding 117,337 equivalent full-time places at universities in 2011, which is about 5600 more than was funded in 2008."
Mr Joyce says the excess of demand over supply will likely ease next year because of "the number of overall places available, and the new policies the Government has introduced".
These include a two-year stand-down for student entitlements for permanent residents and Australians, and performance requirements for existing students, "which will dampen demand to some degree, and ensure a focus on providing places to people who are committed to New Zealand and determined to progress academically".
"However, once again, universities will always likely want to manage access to ensure that those students most likely to succeed are able to enrol," he says.
Mr Guerin says open access to university is "a myth".
"It goes back to [Labour Prime Minister] Peter Fraser talking in the 1940s with [influential education policy-maker] Clarence Beeby about how we should have education for all.
"The sensible, moral and economic viewpoints for that are you want to make the most of everyone's talents. But university has always been restricted in various ways: there have been various fees, various difficulties in attending university education through class and the ability to get time off work.
"It has never been entirely open-access, although in recent years it has been closer to that than it has been before, but it has got quite expensive for governments, who don't want to spend money on it," Mr Guerin says.
"I think that right to education tends to be focused around university level, around middle-class people. I see it as more of a myth than a firm commitment from governments. But the fact is funding has run at a level that has allowed it to be sustained over a long time."
Craig Ebert, senior economist for the BNZ, says the issue is not about universities getting "all toffee-nosed" but, rather, a recognition that there are some quite major budget constraints.
There will always be too much demand. The universities are being very careful about spending taxpayers' money ... "push has come to shove, basically."
New Zealand Unions of Students' Associations co-president David Do laments the trend towards restricted admission for domestic students, labelling it "another nail in the coffin for open entry".
"Open access to tertiary education has been a cornerstone of our tertiary system. We believe it is something we should be proud of, because tertiary education can act as a great leveller and a greater enabler of social mobility.
"Over time, these changes may result in a student body that is less diverse - diverse in age, diverse in background, diverse in outlook. We know that diversity is important and beneficial in the workplaces and our society, yet these moves may reduce that at tertiary institutions."