Established in 1883, it is New Zealand's largest university, with over 40,000 students, including more than 4,800 international students from over 90 countries. It is in Auckland, a city of about 1.5 million, which is widely considered among the world's best places for quality of life.

Top 50 ranked subjects: archaeology, education, English language & literature, psychology, law, accounting & finance, civil & structural engineering, modern languages, anthropology, social policy & administration, statistics, operational research, linguistics, nursing, sociology.

(Photo by Matt Boulton, used under CC license)

Founded in 1869, this is New Zealand's oldest university, and has a reputation for especially high quality research in the country. It has nearly 22,000 students, of which 2,700 are from other countries. The main campus is in Dunedin, a city of 121,000 people.

Top 50 ranked subjects: sport studies, anatomy & physiology, dentistry, archaeology, and development studies. Subjects ranked 51-100 include history, performing arts, medicine, psychology, geography, anthropology, law, social sciences, management, geography, and environmental studies

The University was founded in 1873, by scholars from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and has strong links with those universities even today. The campus is near Christchurch, a city of around 400,000. The university has nearly 18,000 students.

Subjects ranked 51-100: Civil & structural engineering, education & training. Subjects ranked 101-150 include English language & literature, geography, accounting & finance, law, sociology, social sciences & management.

Established in 1899, Victoria University is reputed for being a research-led institution It has 22,000 students, including 3,000 students from over 100 countries. It is located in Wellington, New Zealand's political, cultural and creative capital.

Top 50 ranked subject: law (ranked 23rd worldwide). Subjects ranked 51-100: English language & literature, performing arts, psychology, geography, accounting & finance, education & training, medicine, anthropology, history, law. Subjects ranked 101-150: Communications & media studies, history, linguistics, politics, business & management studies, earth and marine sciences, sociology.

Established in 1964, this university has more than 12,000 students, of which 17% are international. The campus is in Hamilton, New Zealand's 4th largest city, with a population of 130,000, about 90 minutes' drive from Auckland.

Top 50 ranked subject: Hospitality & leisure management. Subject ranked 51-100: Education. Subjects ranked 101-150: accounting & finance, geography. Subjects ranked 151-200: social sciences & management, sociology, art & design, and linguistics.

Founded in 1927, Massey University has more than 35,000 students, including 3,400 international students from over 100 countries. It offers more than 40 undergraduate programs and over 100 postgraduate courses. It has three campuses – Albany, Manawatu, and Wellington.

Top 50 ranked subjects: veterinary science, agriculture, forestry. Subjects ranked 51-100: art & design, nursing, development studies. Subjects ranked 101-150: education & training, accounting & finance. Subjects ranked 151-200: statistics & operational research, geography.

AUT is New Zealand's largest and fastest growing university. It has more than 4,000 international students from over 90 countries. It is located in Auckland, where more than a quarter of the population was born outside of New Zealand.

Top 50 ranked subjects: Hospitality & leisure management. Subjects ranked 51-100: art & design, sport studies. Subjects ranked 101-150: accounting & finance.

Originally founded in 1878 as a school of agriculture and affiliated to the University of Canterbury, it formally separated and became an independent institution in 1990. Located near Christchurch, it has over 5,000 students, including international students from more than 60 countries. Study areas include agriculture, commerce, computing, engineering, environment, food, forestry, horticulture, hospitality, landscape, Maori planning, property, recreation, sciences, transport and winemaking.

Top 50 ranked subjects: agriculture & forestry, hospitality & leisure management.