Maclean’s magazine released the results of their 23rd annual University Rankings, placing Queen’s fourth in Canada for a third year in a row.
The ranking analyzes 49 different Canadian universities each year.
Maclean’s categorizes each university under Primarily Undergraduate, Comprehensive or Medical Doctoral. Queen’s was named as a Medical Doctoral institute.
Universities under the Medical Doctorial category are judged based on 14 different indicators.
“Queen’s does well on a number of indicators and they maintain that,” Mary Dwyer, senior editor (university rankings) at Maclean’s, said.
Queen’s came first in indicators such as awards given to faculty and library holdings per student, she added.
Queen’s came second in school spending on scholarships and bursaries, and third in awards given to students.
Primarily Undergraduate universities place a strong emphasis on undergraduate programs.
Comprehensive and Medical Doctoral universities emphasize graduate research. Medical Doctoral universities, however, house medical schools.
Fotty per cent of a university’s score is based on academic awards given to faculty and students. Five other categories are measured, such as reputation, which is determined by a national survey spearheaded by the magazine and s for 20 per cent.
Other categories include library quality, which is based on the upkeep of libraries, amounting to 15 per cent.
In addition, spending on student services is weighted at 13 per cent, and resources, which determines funds available for student expenses, is at 12 per cent.
Dwyer said Queen’s improved in of library quality.
“[Queen’s] moved up to fourth [place] on spending on libraries, which is another key area.”
“You would want to see libraries being maintained,” she said.
McGill placed first in the Medical Doctoral category, followed by UBC and U of T in second and third place.
Dwyer said Queen’s maintains a strong national presence as a university.
“[Queen’s] still placed very well on reputation. They were sixth in their category, which shows a strong reputation,” she said.
Rankings stem from the most recent data from Statistics Canada on student and faculty numbers.
Principal Daniel Woolf said the University excels in categories such as student services as well as awards won by faculty.
“[It] is a testament to our success as a balanced academy,” he told the Journal via email.
The government of Ontario is reducing per-student grants, creating a “challenging environment” for Queen’s to operate in, he added.
“Queen’s is working hard to maintain its financial sustainability and ensure it remains competitive among Canada’s best universities,” he said.
Woolf said it’s difficult to enter the top three, as those are larger institutions.
Queen’s is considered a mid-sized university.
“Queen’s tends to do very well in rankings that measure student learning experience,” he said. “Among our counterparts, I think we do very well.” He said he’s pleased to see Queen’s ranked among other top universities.
“I think the results are reflective of the hard work of our faculty and staff , as well as our outstanding students,” he said.
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