As reported on Saturday, student numbers are increasing for the first time in nearly five years.
The financial situation, the restructuring and the loss of jobs were bad enough without facing another year of declining numbers.
Of course, those fiscal pressures remain acute as government funding steadily and consistently slips behind what is required to keep pace with costs and inflation.
Given this government’s determination to restrain spending, there are deep concerns about university funding in the May Budget. The Marsden Fund changes, including the cuts to social science research, announced last December, have already shocked the university world.
There is much interest, too, in the report of the University Advisory Group set up last March and headed by Sir Peter Gluckman. The initial report was due to the Ministry of Education in August. The yet-to-appear final report was due last month.
The university, meanwhile, amid whatever happens, must run its ship with as few layers of management and as little bureaucracy as possible. All must serve, at the lowest possible cost, the institution’s core roles in teaching and research.
Enrolments are at 18,018 equivalent fulltime students (Efts), compared to 17,549 at the same point in 2024.
That is an increase of 469, or 2.67%, a little ahead of the budgeted 2% increase.
As vice-chancellor Grant Robertson pointed out, a key is the rise in domestic first-year enrolments, up 6.6% (school leavers up 7.7%). First-year increases flow through to subsequent years.
An economy in recession no doubt helps. When jobs become scarce, people are more likely to enter and stay in education. So, too, does the fact that year 13 numbers increased in 2024. More increases are due for the next few years.
First-year international student numbers are up 26.6%, a large rise after the devastating effects of the Covid years and the subsequent slow recovery. Total numbers have risen 16.9% to 1320 Efts, not too far behind the 2019 pre-Covid peak of 1411. That level could be surpassed next year because of the "pipeline" effect.
The University of Auckland had 29,123 Efts in February, nearly 8% more than the same time last year.
The University of Canterbury, building on a resurgence in Christchurch’s popularity, has been thriving as a trendy place to study, often at the expense of Otago.
Canterbury bucked the national trend of falling university enrolments in 2022 and 2023 after the 2021 peaks. It also had a strong year in 2024.
Unsurprisingly, its increase exceeded Otago’s this year. Efts rose 1051 to 16,513, a 6.8% increase. Canterbury will, in part, be benefiting from the pipeline effect of those previous rises.
In today’s mercenary climate, the humanities struggle. Yet, as Mr Roberston said last week in a public lecture, training via the arts and humanities will become all the more important. He said such degrees taught soft skills, such as how to critically think, how to read and write effectively, how to communicate with others, how to pick up new skills and become a change-maker.
Health science remains at the heart of the university. Demand for the specialist schools remains high.
Everyone should know the university has been Dunedin’s economic saviour as manufacturing and head offices headed north over decades. The city has compelling vested interests in Otago thriving. Even last year, toilet paper manufacturing shifted to Christchurch and fertiliser production at Ravensbourne has been winding down.
Reasonable enrolment figures this year must have been a relief to the university and those in Dunedin who are aware of the importance of a thriving university. Clearly, though, there are challenges aplenty.
