Auckland University of Technology
Auckland University of Technology (abbr. AUT; Māori: Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau) is a university in New Zealand, formed on 1 January 2000 when a former technical college (originally established in 1895) was granted university status. AUT is New Zealand's third largest university in terms of total student enrolment, with approximately 29,100 students enrolled across three campuses in Auckland.[3] It has five faculties, and an additional three specialist locations: AUT Millennium, Warkworth Radio Astronomical Observatory and AUT Centre for Refugee Education.[4]
Not to be confused with University of Auckland.
Former name
- Auckland Technical School (1895–1906)
- Auckland Technical College (1906–1913)
- Seddon Memorial Technical College (1913–1963)
- Auckland Technical Institute (1963–1989)
- Auckland Institute of Technology (1989–2000)
For the changing world
2000 (lineage back to 1895)
NZ$425.4 million (31 December 2020)[2]
1,194 (2020)[2]
1,255 (2020)[2]
29,118 (2020)[2]
13,319 (2020)[2]
2,586 (2020) [2]
Urban (City, North and South)
AUT enrolled more than 29,000 students in 2018,[5][2]: 16 including 4,194 international students from 94 countries[2]: 20 and 2,417 postgraduate students.[2]: 19 Students also represent a wide age range with 22% being aged 25–39 years and 10% being 40 or older.[2]: 20
AUT employed 2,474 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff in 2016, including both professional and academic.[2]: 23
Data suggests that 86% of AUT's graduates are employed full-time within nine months of graduating.[6]: 35
History[edit]
AUT was founded as Auckland Technical School in 1895, offering evening classes only. Daytime classes began in 1906 and its name was changed to Auckland Technical College. In 1913 it was renamed Seddon Memorial Technical College. In the early 1960s educational reforms resulted in the separation of secondary and tertiary teaching; two educational establishments were formed; the tertiary (polytechnic) adopting the name Auckland Technical Institute (ATI) in 1963 and the secondary school continuing with the same name. For three years they co-existed on the same site, but by 1964 the secondary school had moved to a new site in Western Springs and eventually became Western Springs College. In 1989 ATI became Auckland Institute of Technology (AIT), and the current name was adopted when university status was granted in 2000.[7]
Sir Paul Reeves served as university chancellor from 2005 until his death in 2011.[8]
In July 2019, controversy arose when AUT cancelled an event commemorating the Tiananmen Square massacre, and allegations arose that this was due to interference from the Government of China, due to contact between Chinese officials and the university.[9] AUT denied that China had pressured them,[10] although this claim has been heavily disputed, including by some university staff.[11]
In late October 2022, Stuff reported that AUT was intending to lay off 250 full-time staff including 170 academic staff and 80 professional staff. Earlier, AUT had announced plans to lay off 230 staff members in early September 2022. The university's Vice-Chancellor Damon Salesa attributed the redundancies to rising salary costs, declining government funding, and a projected decline in the number of student enrolments for 2023.[12] In response, the Tertiary Education Union (TEU) announced that it would take legal action against AUT in an attempt to halt the 170 staff job redundancies.[13] In early January 2023, the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) ordered AUT to scrap the 170 planned redundancies it had issued to TEU members. ERA also ruled that the university had violated its collective employment agreement with staff when it issued its severance notices in early December 2022.[14]
AUT has five faculties. These are:
AUT has 16 schools that sit within these faculties. These are:
Programmes[edit]
AUT offers undergraduate and postgraduate (both doctoral and Master) degrees, as well as sub-degree qualifications such as diplomas and certificates. Programmes are offered in the areas/fields of applied sciences, art and design, business, business information systems, communication studies, computer and information sciences, education, engineering, health care practice, hospitality and tourism, languages, law, mathematical science, midwifery, nursing, occupational therapy, oral health, paramedicine and emergency management, Māori development, physiotherapy, podiatry, psychology, psychotherapy, public health, rehabilitation and occupation studies, social science, and sport and recreation.
The AUT Business School has been recognised as one of the top business schools in the world by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International.[30]
University rankings
801–900 (2023)
412 (2025)
401–500 (2024)
=372 (2023)
In the 2024 QS World University Rankings, AUT was ranked 412th, which puts it in the top 2% of universities worldwide.[71] The 2017 Times Higher Education (THE) World University Ranking ranked AUT as one of the top 20 universities worldwide for International Outlook, due to its high proportion of international staff, students and research partnerships.[72] AUT was amongst the world's top 60 young universities and ranked for the first time in THE's top 150 universities under 50 years old.[73]
AUT now features amongst the world's elite institutions in 11 subjects, featuring in the QS World University Rankings for:[73]
AUT is the first and only tertiary provider in New Zealand to be awarded the Rainbow Tick,[74] which attests to the university's work to ensure inclusiveness for the LGBTQI community, and in positively responding to issues of gender diversity.[75]