The University of Otago has extended its new student enrolment deadline until next Friday to allow Canterbury students affected by the earthquake to study at Otago this year.
The University of Canterbury announced this week it was offering study abroad options at the University of Adelaide, in Australia, for up to 500 selected Canterbury undergraduate students.
Announcing the deadline extension for Canterbury students, Otago University vice-chancellor Prof Sir David Skegg said yesterday they were most welcome to recommence their earthquake-disrupted study at Otago.
Some students might decide to move to Australia, but there had been "an unfortunate impression" created that New Zealand universities were not willing or able to respond to the needs of the many hundreds of students whose lives had been "so disrupted by the tragic events in Christchurch", Prof Skegg said.
This was "simply not the case".
About 50 international students have already transferred from Canterbury.
A "steady stream" of domestic Canterbury students had been accepted at Otago since last week, university officials said.
They had been helped to find accommodation and given appropriate "pastoral support".
Academic and international deputy vice-chancellor Prof Vernon Squire said Otago's support was "100% humanitarian" and there was no suggestion of poaching students.
• Otago University would receive no extra state funding for the Canterbury students, but a recent government announcement about flexibility over the usual domestic funding cap meant quake-affected students could be accepted without financial penalty to the host university, officials said.
