Chief operating officer Stephen Willis said it had received the highest number of applications ever for places in the residential colleges, reflecting strong interest from young people wishing to study at the University of Otago.
The university has 3852 beds available across its 14 residential colleges, and all have been taken.
"While demand has initially exceeded places available, we are working through a process to ensure we can accommodate as many of these young people as possible."
The university has 14 separate residential colleges, the most expensive being 192 Castle, which has fees of about $24,206 for next year, while Aquinas College’s fees were the lowest, starting at about $19,888.
Most of the other residential colleges were priced within the $21,500 to $23,000 range.
A spokeswoman said the university did not publicly release waiting list numbers as they fluctuated frequently and were "part of an internal operational process".
James Hargest College principal Mike Newell said this was a challenging time of year for many year 13 students, as they were grappling with both exams and applications for university.
"That's where, as schools, you always hope that you're doing enough, you know, to support the students. And any feedback from the universities around ... things that we could do better is always welcomed as well. But it definitely is extra stress for the students.
"It's probably very tough for the universities as well, because all the students will be deserving applicants. There wouldn't be anyone that's not deserving of a place or wants a place."
Mr Newell said traditionally during times of high unemployment, more people looked towards tertiary education, but he had not seen a particular increase in numbers applying for university.
"What I'd say is a lot of our students are very able and they manage a lot. It's part of growing up too, isn't it?"
Mr Willis said the university had been focused on its marketing and student recruitment efforts in anticipation for the growth in the number of year 13 school leavers across the country this year.
"We have also increased our international marketing and recruitment efforts to raise Otago’s profile in overseas markets.
"We've been planning for these factors, which is one of the reasons we built our new residential college, Te Rangihīroa, which opened in 2024."
Mr Willis said the university was working through a process to ensure it could accommodate as many prospective students as possible.
"We are doing everything we can to offer places to those on the wait list and hope to confirm additional placements soon.
"There is always a lot of movement on the waiting lists with students still being placed right through until late February."
The news of students applying for residential colleges in large numbers comes after a torrid three years for the university, marked by troubled rolls and large-scale deficits.
Mr Willis welcomed the situation.
"While students have many universities to choose from, we're encouraged to see interest in Otago has continued to grow for next year.
"We know that Otago’s strong reputation in teaching and research excellence, alongside our on-campus residential experience, are major draw cards for prospective students."
