Queen’s has been ranked the fifth best university among Canada’s largest institutions in Maclean’s 2027 university rankings.
The list categorized schools into small, medium, or large universities. Schools with more than 30,000 students were considered large, with the ranking methodology considering a number of different factors, including grant funding awarded, student and faculty ratio, research impact, and more. Fifteen schools qualified as “large.”
McGill University took the top spot among large universities, followed by the University of Toronto, the University of British Columbia, and the University of Waterloo.
Maclean’s evaluates institutional performance using 15 indicators grouped into four broad areas: student experience and success, faculty quality, student resources and support, and reputation.
Queen’s ranked second among large universities in retention rates and graduation rates, which measured the percentage of students who return for second-year and the percentage who graduate within six years.
The University placed fourth in the number of national student awards won per 1,000 students, and 13th in student to faculty ratio.
When it comes to the total value of federal grant money received, Queen’s placed fourth in medical science grants and ninth in social sciences and humanities grants. The University also placed fifth in faculty awards, which looked at major awards won by professors relative to faculty size.
The University ranked 11th in research volume, which is evaluated based on the research published per faculty member, and 13th in research impact, based on the share of its publications being in the top 10 per cent most cited research in their field.
Under student resources and support, Queen’s had the third highest budget toward library expenses and ranked ninth for the portion of its library budget allocated to updating library acquisitions such as books, journals, and digital sources.
Queen’s also had the fifth highest budget spent on scholarships and bursaries, 11th highest operating budget available compared to the student body, and 12th highest percentage of budget spent on student services.
This year, the magazine revised its 2027 ranking methodology, changing which universities are being compared to each other through its small, medium, and large categories.
In the years before Maclean’s updated its ranking, Queen’s competed in the Medical Doctorate category, which only included schools that have both medical schools and a broad range of PhD programs and research.
READ MORE: Queen’s ranks seventh out of fifteen schools in Maclean’s rankings
The new sorting method replaced Maclean’s previous “Primarily Undergraduate,” “Comprehensive,” and “Medical Doctoral” categories.
“We updated our category structure so that the results are more user-friendly and easier to understand,” Maclean’s said in its 2027 ranking methodology page.
In a statement to The Journal, Director (Global Rankings and Reputation) Sheri Young, who works in the Office of the Vice-Provost (Global Engagement), said “even with Maclean’s few changes to their methodology, Queen’s improved in a number of indicators that have stayed consistent year over year.”
Young listed improvements in the medical science grant category by four places, library expenses by two, and student awards by one.
“Our top five results in Faculty Awards and Medical Science Grants also highlight our high-quality faculty and research activity undertaken,” Young said.
Young identified student-to-faculty ratio, funding devoted to student services, research volume, and research impact as “opportunities for change.”
She said Queen’s aims to strengthen the University’s global research standing through its Bicentennial Vision and connect research more closely with the teaching and student experience.
Young said these rankings reflect Queen’s performance through “specific lenses” and are “not an absolute measure of our performance.”
“For that reason, rankings are just one of a number of sources Queen’s uses to inform decisions regarding academic priorities, resources and long-term planning,” Young said.
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Canadian Universities, Maclean's Rankings, rankings
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