UBC Reports | Vol. 46 | No. 18 | November 16, 2000

UBC secures silver spot in Maclean's rankings

Faculty grants, library acquisitions and entering grades among categories to show improvement

UBC has secured second position in overall rankings of Canada's medical/doctoral universities, according to the annual survey recently published in Maclean's magazine.

Last year, UBC shared the second-place spot with Ontario's Queen's University.

"We're very pleased to gain this national recognition for the second consecutive year -- it's a benchmark for implementing our strategic goals," says UBC President Martha Piper.

"This achievement reinforces our commitment to our Trek 2000 vision and our particular emphasis on undergraduate education. Students, faculty, staff and alumni all share in this success, however, we need to ensure adequate funding is in place to maintain quality education."

Improved access to education through greater financial support for students, curriculum that includes opportunities for undergraduate research, and attracting top faculty are key strategies of Trek 2000, the university's vision document.

The University of Toronto again placed first overall in the category, which ranks 15 universities with a broad range of PhD programs and research as well as medical schools. Queen's University placed third.

UBC was ranked first in percentage of faculty with PhDs and in faculty receiving humanities and social science research grants. The university jumped to second place from last year's fifth spot in faculty receiving medical and science research grants.

In library acquisitions UBC leapt to third place from its 10th place spot last year. In expenses, the UBC Library maintained the number two spot and kept its number three position in total holdings.

UBC also moved up to fifth in scholarships and bursaries as a percentage of budget. Last year it held eighth position.

The average entering grade for students moved to second place from third place last year. A 78 per cent average is now the minimum for admission to first-year Arts, while at least 83 per cent is required for first-year Science.

The university ranked third in proportion of students with a 75 per cent or higher entering grade and in class size in first- and second-years.

Ranking for student awards held its third position from last year. Student services as a percentage of budget earned a second-place spot, dropping from last year's first-place finish.

Awards per full-time faculty dropped from fourth place last year to place fifth this year.

The size of UBC's operating budget was ranked 12th for the second consecutive year.

The ranking for overall reputation moved to fifth place while alumni support maintained its fourth-place ranking. Results in the reputation category are based on responses from university officials, corporate recruiters, guidance counsellors and chief executive officers.

The Maclean's ranking measures the undergraduate experience at Canadian universities, comparing post-secondary institutions in three groupings: medical/doctoral, comprehensive and primarily undergraduate.

Simon Fraser University took top place in the comprehensive category with the University of Victoria holding fourth position in the same category.

Mount Allison University took top place in the primarily undergraduate category with the University of Northern British Columbia ranked 10th.