McGill again tops Maclean’s university rankings

Ranks first among medical-doctoral universities for fourth consecutive year

McGill University has been named Canada’s top university in its class in the annual Maclean's university rankings for the fourth year in a row. McGill ranked first in the medical-doctoral category, which includes the nation’s 15 universities with medical schools and a broad range of PhD programs.

“We are extremely gratified that McGill continues to win recognition for the excellence of its research and scholarship,” said Principal and Vice-Chancellor Heather Munroe-Blum. “This ranking reflects McGill’s place as a leading university with a profound emphasis on teaching. It highlights the exceptional quality of our faculty, students and staff, who benefit from and contribute to the local as well as national and international community. McGill remains committed to achieving the highest standards even as we deal with continuing financial challenges.”

In one of the many categories measured by the Maclean’s rankings, McGill placed first among medical/doctoral universities in the national reputational survey, which reflects the views of high-school principals and guidance counselors, university officials and corporate recruiters.

McGill students were found to have the highest average entrance grades (89.6 per cent) of any university in the country.

McGill also placed first in student awards for the 10th consecutive year. It was again the top performer in average size and number of social sciences/humanities grants per full-time faculty.

While every ranking approach puts emphasis on different elements of a university’s operation, and each has their strengths and weaknesses, McGill’s consistent strong showing in Maclean’s, the Times Higher Education-QS rankings and the Shanghai Jiao Tong University rankings underline that McGill is one of the finest universities in the world.

Last month, for example, McGill was named one of the world’s Top 25 universities in the world for the fifth year in a row by the prestigious THE-QS World University Rankings. McGill’s 20th place in the 2008 THE-QS rankings was again the highest of any Canadian university.