Concordia makes gains in Maclean’s rankings
Concordia University has made some important inroads in the 2013 Maclean’s University Rankings released on October 31. The university remains in 13th place in the comprehensive category, made up of universities with a significant degree of research activity and a wide range of programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels, including professional degrees. However, there has been upward movement in a number of important categories adding to the momentum recently seen in other rankings.
The Maclean’s rankings show increases in awards per full-time faculty, student scholarships and bursaries, and library holdings per student. It is important to note, though, that the Maclean’s rankings rely on data from public sources when it becomes available, which means they use figures spanning different years. Financial figures are for fiscal year 2011-12, but data for research grants is for fiscal 2012-13.The ranking of libraries is based on older data from 2010-11, before Concordia significantly increased its acquisitions budget. Student and faculty data also goes back to 2010.
“These results are a further validation that we are investing in all the right areas,” says Concordia President Alan Shepard. “The academic sector continues to be strengthened and our faculty and students benefit from this.”
One category that relies on more subjective data is reputation, and is based on a survey of opinion leaders’ views on quality and innovation. Concordia continues to move upward, now ranked in 24th position overall (up from 26th in 2012). Particularly notable is the university’s increasing reputation as an innovator (up to 24th from 31th in 2012).
This year’s rankings further affirm Concordia’s growing reputation nationally and internationally. When it comes to out-of-province students, Concordia is in 15th place overall. The numbers are even more impressive when it comes to the university’s international student population. The number of first-year international students places Concordia in 10th spot and in eighth at the graduate level.
“Concordia is a key educational destination for international students,” adds Shepard. “We are among the largest universities in Canada with good reason. We have a strong combination of academic quality, world-class research, broad student support and core values which resonate well across the board.”
The Maclean’s rankings are one in a series of such exercises conducted on an annual basis and the results show a steady upward momentum for Concordia in many areas. Within the last three months, the John Molson School of Business MBA program was ranked second in the world in the 2013 Global Green MBA Survey conducted by Corporate Knights magazine. The Economist magazine ranked Concordia second best in Canada, according to the 2013 “Which MBA?” survey and 80th in the world. Concordia also broke into the top 500 worldwide in the QS World University Rankings and the Top 500 in the 2013 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU).
Concordia also rated well in the 2013 Canadian Student Satisfaction Survey issued by the Higher Education Strategy Associates (HESA), which is based on a survey of undergraduate university students who rate their own universities. Concordia garnered B+ grades or higher in the library services and city satisfaction categories. It received an A for students’ sense of personal safety, and a B+ in services for international students and in helping students develop or improve their analytical and problem-solving skills. “We know we are doing well when we get our best grades from our own students,” says Shepard.