Dalhousie has once again been ranked by Maclean’s as one of the best Medical Doctoral universities in Canada.
The university placed eighth overall in the category in the national affairs magazine’s 2022 University Rankings, released Thursday — consistent with its placement in the top 10 in the category over the past several years.
To account for differences in funding and program offerings, the Maclean’s University Rankings are organized into three categories: Medical Doctoral, Comprehensive and Primarily Undergraduate.
Dalhousie competes in the Medical Doctoral category as one of the 15 Canadian universities that provide a broad range of PhD programs, focus on research depth and include medical schools.
McGill University, University of Toronto and University of British Columbia placed in the top three spots respectively in the category this year.
A closer look
For more than three decades, the Maclean’s University Rankings issue has been comparing student experience, faculty, resources, support and reputation across mainstream Canadian universities. This year, 49 universities met the requirements for inclusion.
Maclean’s ranks the universities across 13 key indicators, using data from Statistics Canada, the three major federal granting agencies and more than 50 award-granting organizations, as well as the results of Maclean’s own reputational surveys that seek input from faculty, businesses and students across the country.
To assess student experience, Maclean’s compares the number of students who have won national academic awards and student/faculty ratio. Dalhousie consistently ranks in the top five in both areas. Maclean’s also conducts an annual ten-question student satisfaction survey. This year, Dalhousie was ranked tenth in student satisfaction, ahead of the University of British Columbia, University of Alberta and University of Toronto.
To round out the assessment, Maclean’s compares the number of faculty awards and grants, research revenue and operating budgets, library expenses and acquisitions and the percentage that is spent on scholarships, bursaries and student services. Dalhousie continuously ranks in the top five for faculty awards and its allocation toward scholarships and bursaries.
Ranking by reputation
Finally, Maclean’s asks university faculty, senior administration and businesses to complete a three-question survey that focuses on a university’s perceived quality, innovation and ability to produce the leaders of tomorrow. The reputation survey, as it’s known, combines all three categories of universities into one large group. Dalhousie ranked thirteenth overall — among the top third in the country.
Maclean’s university rankings are the main university comparison published in Canada. As such, they are an influential resource for prospective students and their parents. The rankings also better help the university understand its role and impact in a regional and national context.