UNBC PLACES 7TH IN MACLEAN'S
November 7, 2004 for immediate release
The University of Northern British Columbia has matched its best-ever ranking in the annual Maclean's ranking of Canadian universities. UNBC is ranked seventh in the Primarily Undergraduate category, the same position it occupied last year.
In addition to its top-ten ranking, UNBC also placed fifth in the section of the Maclean's national reputational survey that asks high school guidance counsellors, university officials, and industry leaders to name the "leaders of tomorrow."
Some highlights:
- The average entering grade of students - Maclean's most heavily weighted objective measure - has risen at UNBC. This year, students entering UNBC directly from high school had an average of 81.2%, up from 80.3% last year.
- The majority of first and second-year UNBC classes have fewer than 25 students. In the 2003 Fall semester, for example, there were nearly 130 classes of 1-25 students, compared to only 15 that had more than 100.
- UNBC's allocation to scholarships and bursaries continues to grow, surpassing $1.7 million in 2003-04, up from $1.3 million the year before.
- Since first appearing in the Maclean's ranking in 1998, UNBC's commitment to the Library has consistently earned top marks. This year, both the overall Library budget and the amount dedicated to new acquisitions ($1.7 million) have grown.
- This year's ranking confirms UNBC's position as the top small university in western Canada and best among those universities - such as Lakehead University in Thunder Bay and Laurentian in Sudbury - that are located in the North.
This year, for the first time, Maclean's has also conducted a survey of more than 12,000 university graduates across Canada. While the survey has shown the need for improvement among some aspects of the university experience, graduates generally gave, according to Maclean's, a "ringing endorsement to the benefits of going to university." In previous BC surveys of university graduates, UNBC grads typically report higher-than-average levels of education satisfaction, course quality, median income, and skill development.
The University of Northern British Columbia has matched its best-ever ranking in the annual Maclean's ranking of Canadian universities. UNBC is ranked seventh in the Primarily Undergraduate category, the same position it occupied last year.
In addition to its top-ten ranking, UNBC also placed fifth in the section of the Maclean's national reputational survey that asks high school guidance counsellors, university officials, and industry leaders to name the "leaders of tomorrow."
Some highlights:
- The average entering grade of students - Maclean's most heavily weighted objective measure - has risen at UNBC. This year, students entering UNBC directly from high school had an average of 81.2%, up from 80.3% last year.
- The majority of first and second-year UNBC classes have fewer than 25 students. In the 2003 Fall semester, for example, there were nearly 130 classes of 1-25 students, compared to only 15 that had more than 100.
- UNBC's allocation to scholarships and bursaries continues to grow, surpassing $1.7 million in 2003-04, up from $1.3 million the year before.
- Since first appearing in the Maclean's ranking in 1998, UNBC's commitment to the Library has consistently earned top marks. This year, both the overall Library budget and the amount dedicated to new acquisitions ($1.7 million) have grown.
- This year's ranking confirms UNBC's position as the top small university in western Canada and best among those universities - such as Lakehead University in Thunder Bay and Laurentian in Sudbury - that are located in the North.
This year, for the first time, Maclean's has also conducted a survey of more than 12,000 university graduates across Canada. While the survey has shown the need for improvement among some aspects of the university experience, graduates generally gave, according to Maclean's, a "ringing endorsement to the benefits of going to university." In previous BC surveys of university graduates, UNBC grads typically report higher-than-average levels of education satisfaction, course quality, median income, and skill development.
