The University of Otago student roll is likely to reach record levels this year, after a higher-than-projected 2.6% rise in student numbers early in the first semester.
By last Sunday, the university had approved course enrolments for 19,291 full- and part-time students, representing 17, 743 equivalent full-time students (EFTS), the university's governing council heard yesterday.
This was 2.6% (444 EFTS) higher than at the corresponding time last year, vice-chancellor Prof David Skegg said.
The university's forecast for this year appeared to have been "slightly conservative", predicting growth of only 1.5% , compared to the final number of EFTS last year.
Prof Skegg warned that current figures provided "only a snapshot of the situation early in the first semester".
Final enrolment figures would not be available until much later.
"While it is too early to predict our final roll, the University of Otago is likely to achieve a record enrolment in 2009," he said.
The university expected to gain a further 50 EFTS or more by the end of this month, and several hundred more at the start of the second semester.
In each of the university's four academic divisions, the roll rise had been greater than forecast, he said.
Domestic enrolments were up 3% (481 EFTS), compared with a 1.7% forecast.
In view of Otago's position as New Zealand's leading research university, it was also pleasing to note that postgraduate research numbers were continuing to increase most substantially - by 11.5%, compared with the same time last year, he said.
A decline in international student numbers had been predicted, but this was currently running at just 38 EFTS (down 3.1%), and there had been a significant increase in first-year international enrolments, he said.