The influx of towards 20,000 University of Otago students brings colour, life, vibrancy, youth and - of course - money to the city. A few thousand students do, actually, come from Dunedin, some students attend the Summer School, while others stay in town over the break.
But the mass migration takes place in February and transforms the city.
About the same time, many of the Otago Polytechnic's courses begin, some attracting students from around New Zealand, and again adding to the buzz in the North End of Dunedin.
The area, a little like a ghost town in January, flourishes with students packed into flats and colleges. As well, a spillover takes advantage of cheaper rents and spreads wider into neighbouring suburbs.
Of course, there are problems, many of them alcohol-related. Given New Zealand's booze culture, that is hardly surprising. And the issues are not going to go away, although the University of Otago's harder line in particular has had some impact. The real threat of exclusion has had a deterrent effect and, generally, alcohol has a lesser profile.
All in all, behaviour, despite the inevitability of continued trouble spots, has improved in recent years.
It should be noted that often the worst troublemakers in disorder incidents are not students. Other young people - from Dunedin and beyond - take the chance to descend on Castle St, Hyde St or other flash points to either have a good time and/or cause trouble.
Of the four arrested in the first major incident and couch burning of the year, in Hyde St last Sunday night, only one was a student.
A sprinkling of flats in the North End are also occupied by non university or Otago Polytechnic students.
It should also be noted that despite the prominence of alcohol in the lifestyle of many New Zealanders and many students, it plays a limited or no part in the lives of thousands.
Students, like any other group, should not be mass stereotyped. For every hard-partying and drinking student, there will be others with different attitudes and temperaments. They go about their lives, their studies and their interests causing no concerns whatsoever.
Some of these may be among the first-year health science cohort, a substantial proportion of the 4000 first-years. Those endeavouring to gain entry into extremely competitive courses - not just medicine - can face a year of study, study and more study with little time for outside relaxation. That can be unhealthy because lives need to be balanced and time as a student is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to grow, develop and explore.
The university itself is home to dozens of clubs and societies, while students mix with the rest of Dunedin through sports teams, music bands and orchestras, churches and other organisations. Eager students, for example, have provided Dunedin scouting groups with desperately needed leadership.
Given strong applications to the colleges this year, first-year numbers seem to be holding up well. The gender mix is likely to remain about 57% female and 43% male, and the ethnic backgrounds mixed, although with lower Maori and Pacific Island proportions (about 7.8% and 3.1% respectively) than in the general nationwide population.
University education has always been heavily weighted towards higher socioeconomic groups, and Otago's enrolments could be even more skewed than elsewhere. That is because students from Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch for many courses can stay and study at home, a much cheaper option.
Fees for the colleges are now about $13,000 a year. Student allowances, for those eligible, fall a long way short of meeting that cost, let alone all the expenses. As government jobs and those in other industries are being lost, the city becomes more and more a university town.
While Dunedin is rightly concerned about the need for diversification, it enthusiastically embraces what is its fundamental and foundational business. Students, at the same time, have the chance to embrace Dunedin and make the most of their special years in the South.
