All but one New Zealand university has slipped in rankings in the latest international survey of tertiary institutions, with the University of Otago dropping 10 places.
Auckland University is the only New Zealand university in the top 100 in the 2010 Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings survey, which examines more than 600 universities and is regarded as one of the more reliable of the surveys carried out by a variety of organisations.
Victoria University, Wellington, climbed to 225th position from last year's 229th.
Auckland slipped seven places to 68 this year, while Otago dropped from 125 last year to 135.
Canterbury fell one place to 189 and Massey was ranked 302, down from last year's 299.
The top 10 positions were dominated by United States and British heavyweight universities such as Cambridge, Harvard, University College, London, Columbia and Yale.
University of Otago academic and international deputy vice-chancellor Prof Vernon Squire said yesterday while Otago "always paid attention to a downward trend", he did not believe a drop of 10 places was a significant change.
Among the factors QS analysed was student-staff ratio, and this appeared to be the factor which had led to Otago's lower ranking, he said.
Even though New Zealand universities were subject to capped rolls, Otago's roll had still grown in recent years.
"We've had an influx of students and we are addressing that by taking on more staff - but appointing new staff takes time."
In relation to its size and population, New Zealand "punched above its weight" in all international university ranking surveys, Prof Squire said.
