As many as 230 staff at Auckland University of Technology (AUT) could lose their jobs.

AUT today announced it would review administration and support roles and a small number of courses with low enrolments.

Costs had increased, international student numbers had dropped significantly, and it had fewer New Zealand students than last year because more people, including school leavers, were choosing to work instead of study, says AUT.

"AUT's fundamentals are sound but we have a responsibility to ensure we continue to meet the needs of our current and future students," says vice-chancellor Damon Salesa.

"The proposals are to ensure our future sustainability so we can deliver what our students, our city, and our country need."

AUT had 4354 individual staff or 2178 full-time equivalents, says Dr Salesa.

The proposal was the first of its kind in the university's 22-year history, he says.

Universities predicted 2022 would be difficult financially because domestic student numbers dropped after a spike last year and foreign student numbers were expected to reach their lowest point after two-and-a-half-years of border restrictions.

In August, Massey University proposed a restructure which the Tertiary Education Union says could affect as many as 150 jobs.

The cuts at Massey and AUT would be in addition to about 700 jobs lost across seven of the eight universities in late 2020 after they failed to persuade the government to reopen the border to foreign students.

Groups representing postgraduate students say universities also slashed the hours of hundreds and possibly thousands of people with casual lecturing and tutoring roles since the pandemic began.

Export education levy statistics showed universities' income from foreign students' fees fell from $579.7 million in 2019 to $348.5m last year, a decline of 40 percent.

The figures also showed universities' foreign student numbers fell by about 7000 a year through the pandemic from 28,150 in 2019 to 21,510 in 2020 and 14,440 in 2021.

Immigration New Zealand says there were 7697 international students with valid study visas at universities when the borders reopened at the end of July 2022.

- RNZ/John Gerritsen.