Getting a qualification is no guarantee of finding work, figures from the Ministry of Social Development show.
About 9% of those on the unemployment benefit have either a degree or professional qualification, the figures, provided to the Otago Daily Times under the Official Information Act, show.
As of June, 4337 (8.74%) of the 49,222 people on an unemployment benefit in New Zealand had a post-secondary school qualification.
The actual number is likely to be higher as the qualifications of Christchurch benefit recipients have not been recorded since the earthquakes.
At the corresponding time last year, 8.79% of the 56,264 on the benefit were qualified, while in 2010, during the peak of the recession, 9.61% of the 62,085 on the benefit were qualified.
In the southern region, which includes the east coast of the South Island from Timaru south, 378 (8.35%) of the 4529 people on the benefit were qualified, as of June.
Last year, the figure in the southern region stood at 7.25% of 5337 and in 2010 8.62% of the 5327 on the benefit had qualifications.
Social Development Minister Paula Bennett said it was "a bumpy road out of the recession" and the welfare system was there to support those who needed assistance.
"On average, over 78,000 people graduate with degrees or professional qualifications each year and about 6% go on to an unemployment benefit while they look for work.
"However, I am more concerned about the 90% of 16 to 17-year-olds who leave school early and drift, only to end up on a benefit aged 18 without any qualifications," she said.
Dunedin recruitment agency Your People Recruitment managing director Warwick McArthur said about a quarter of his clients were recent graduates looking for work.
Some of his qualified clients were on unemployment benefits, but many others were "too proud" to apply for benefits and were instead getting by on the "smell of an oily rag" through part-time and low-skilled work.
A "lack of opportunities" in Dunedin for graduates meant some were forced to take jobs outside their area of training, or leave the region.
Others with degrees were returning to university or polytechnic after failing to find jobs, he said.
