Increased varsity roll helps city

David Skegg

About 21,500 full- and part-time students enrolled at Otago University last year, and the university roll seems likely to exceed 22,000 for the first time later this year.

Previously used estimation measures suggest that more than 1000 extra students are likely to spend about $10 million in accommodation and other living costs throughout the year.

The university will also gain significant extra tuition fee income through the roll increase.

University officials warned yesterday that various factors could affect further enrolments, including those in the second academic semester, and final figures would not be available until much later.

Dunedin City Council economic development unit manager Peter Harris said the outcome was positive for the university and for the Dunedin economy.

"That's more than 1000 extra people spending money in the city," Mr Harris said.

Otago University had a "pretty strong" reputation, and, partly because of the difficult overall economy, some people were pursuing further education, and, in some cases, seeking new opportunities by retraining, he said in an interview.

University vice-chancellor Prof Sir David Skegg told yesterday's meeting of the governing University Council that 18,659 equivalent full-time students, including those in the Foundation Studies programme, had enrolled by last Friday.

This was up by 5.2% - 916 EFTS - amounting to more than 1000 extra full- and part-time students over the equivalent time last year.

Prof Skegg said the growth rate was more than double the 2.3% increase required to achieve the university's 2010 budget EFTS forecast.

Domestic first-year numbers had increased 191 EFTS, or 5.1%.

This growth was higher than expected, and was mainly due to rises in the humanities, sciences and health sciences.

Under the investment plan funding system now in place, tertiary institutions are expected to keep their domestic student enrolments within 3% above or below a roll number agreed with the Tertiary Education Commission.

Prof Skegg said this year was likely to be the first the university exceeded the agreed number of students by more than 3%.

The extent of "over-enrolment" was likely to be modest, but the university would need to consider whether to limit enrolments further during the second semester.

Commenting on the 8.5% rise in full-cost international student numbers, Prof Skegg said this was the first year of growth involving these students since 2005.

The university was likely to exceed its forecast number of international students for the year, with probable overall growth amounting to about 10%.

Given that Otago was New Zealand's most research-intensive university, it was fitting that the university's highest growth was among postgraduate students - up by nearly 9% on the equivalent stage last year.