Address: 22 Princes Street, 1010 Auckland, New Zealand
Medicine and Health Sciences, Engineering, Business, Law, Arts, Science, Education, Creative Arts
The University of Auckland was founded on 23 May 1883 as Auckland University College, a constituent college of the University of New Zealand, under the Auckland University College Act 1882. It began in a disused courthouse and jail with 95 students and four teaching staff, and enrolment reached 156 by 1901. The University of New Zealand was dissolved in 1961, and the University of Auckland Act 1961 gave the university its own authority. The Elam School of Fine Arts joined it in 1950. In 2021 Ngāti Whātua Ōrakei gifted the Māori name Waipapa Taumata Rau.
The City Campus, on 16 hectares, is the historic core of the university and home to most students and faculties. The Grafton Campus, on 2.75 hectares opposite Auckland City Hospital, is home to the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences. The Newmarket Campus, on 5.2 hectares, occupies a former brewery site bought in 2013, and a Tai Tokerau campus operates in Whangarei, together with other satellite and research sites.
In 2025 the university had 39,183 equivalent full-time students: 28,266 undergraduates, 10,913 postgraduates and 2,359 doctoral students. Counted by head, the student population is around 44,000. In 2024, 51 percent of students were Asian, 29 percent European, 8 percent Pasifika, 7 percent Māori, 4 percent from the Middle East, Latin America and Africa, and 2 percent other. The university had 6,250 full-time equivalent staff, 2,454 of them academic.
The faculties include Medical and Health Sciences, Engineering and Design, Education and Social Work, Arts, the Business School and Science, together with the Auckland Law School. In 2025 the budget was 1.63 billion New Zealand dollars and the endowment 423.4 million.
Alumni include the former prime ministers Helen Clark and David Lange, the former chief justice Sian Elias, Ross Ihaka, a co-developer of the R programming language, the Fields medallist Vaughan Jones, the classicist Ronald Syme and the actress Lucy Lawless. Fees differ for domestic and international students. Check the current tariff. Teaching is in English.
Domains taught:
Chemistry, Data Analytics, Engineering, Life Sciences, Mathematics, Physics, Software Engineering, Statistics
Diplomas*:
Bachelor, Doctor, Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma, Master, MBA
Status:
Public
Partnerships:
Auckland City Hospital next to the Grafton campus, the Elam School of Fine Arts, and Universitas 21.
Research:
Medical and health sciences, engineering and design, science, business, law, education and social work, arts and creative arts.
Famous Alumnis:
Helen Clark, David Lange, Sian Elias, Ross Ihaka, Vaughan Jones, Lucy Lawless
International recognition**:
Number of staff***:
6250
Current students***:
39183
Foreign students***:
N/A%
Cumulative former students***:
N/A
Pros
Largest university in New Zealand, central city campus, broad range of faculties, high share of Asian and Pacific students.
Cons
Living costs in Auckland, high fees for international students, large classes.
Best For
Students seeking New Zealand’s largest and highest-ranked research university in the centre of Auckland.
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Most Similar Schools Locally
Where this university leans on physics, mathematics and life sciences, University of Canterbury does the same, and it is also a public institution and does not run the graduate certificate and graduate diploma programmes found here.
Another national school that puts physics, life sciences and data analytics at the centre is Victoria University of Wellington, and it does not run the graduate certificate and graduate diploma programmes found here and covers finance and ecology and sustainability as well.
University of Otago takes a similar route through chemistry, physics and life sciences, and it covers finance and marine science as well, and is smaller, enrolling about 21,315 students against roughly 39,183 here.
Most Similar Schools Abroad
Deakin University offers an international parallel to this university, with chemistry, physics and mathematics as common ground; it covers ecology and sustainability as well, and is larger, enrolling about 58,853 students against roughly 39,183 here.
Macquarie University brings a Australia setting to the same core fields, chemistry, physics and mathematics, and it covers finance as well, and is slightly larger, at about 44,015 students against roughly 39,183 here.
On content, Masaryk University in the Czech Republic and this university are close, as both teach chemistry, statistics and physics; it does not run the graduate certificate, graduate diploma and mba programmes found here, and has almost the same size, at about 35,115 students.
King Saud University in Saudi Arabia pursues a similar profile in chemistry, physics and mathematics, and it does not run the graduate certificate, graduate diploma and mba programmes found here, and covers agriculture and civil engineering as well.
For a study option in Hong Kong with a comparable spread of chemistry, statistics and physics, Chinese University of Hong Kong is the reference point: it covers finance as well, and is smaller, enrolling about 21,110 students against roughly 39,183 here.
*our own picks (our criteria: a mix between domains, diploma delivered, reputation and size), but obviously too many criteria for an apple-to-apple ranking.
FAQ
Where is the University of Auckland?
In the centre of Auckland, New Zealand, with further campuses at Grafton and Newmarket.
When was it founded?
On 23 May 1883, as Auckland University College.
What is its Maori name?
Waipapa Taumata Rau, gifted by Ngāti Whātua Ōrakei in 2021.
How many students does it have?
39,183 equivalent full-time students in 2025.
Where is the medical faculty?
On the Grafton Campus, opposite Auckland City Hospital.
How large is the City Campus?
16 hectares.
How many staff does it have?
6,250 full-time equivalent staff in 2025.
What joined the university in 1950?
The Elam School of Fine Arts.
Which prime ministers studied there?
Helen Clark and David Lange.
What does it cost?
Fees differ for domestic and international students. Check the current tariff.
Architecture, Biology, Engineering, Innovation, Research and Development
*: without any judgment of the quality, readers are strongly encouraged to check the official status of the exact diploma envisioned as many universities have a mix of recognized diplomas, not recognized, “co-delivered,” “equivalent to”, “some pathways” (…), can change over time, and can be named differently from one country to another.
**: international reputation: is based on some criteria that do not mean much in some domains or specialties (number of researchers, of scientific publications, on budget ….). Our approximate 1-4 scale:
known locally
known locally and internationally
is listed in some of the world university’s classifications
is listed among the 20 firsts in some of world university’s classifications
***: estimated numbers, based on online sources and/or feedbacks. The numbers can vary greatly depending on school organisation (ex.: school is part of a group, it employs internal staff or external consultants or has public staff without employing them …). Refer to all the links provided to have accurate and updated numbers.
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