For a third year in a row Queen’s is ranked fifth out of the 15 medical-doctoral universities across the country, according to the 2021 Maclean’s university rankings, which were released on Thursday.

McGill University placed first in the medical-doctoral category, followed by University of Toronto, University of British Columbia, and McMaster University, in a repeat of last year’s rankings. The medical-doctoral category features universities with a broad range of PhD programs and research, as well as medical schools. The two other categories in the rankings are comprehensive, and primarily undergraduate.

The rankings comprise five categories: students (28 per cent of final score); faculty (20 per cent); resources (22 per cent); student support (15 per cent); and reputation (15 per cent).

Within those categories Queen’s highest rankings were faculty awards (2), student satisfaction (3), student awards (5), library expenses (5), scholarships and bursaries (5), and medical/science grants (6). Queen’s ranked sixth in the reputational survey.

“There is world-class research and teaching being conducted every day at Queen’s and the entire Queen’s community should be proud of the work that is being accomplished,” says Principal and Vice-Chancellor Patrick Deane. “Thanks to this collective dedication, even in these challenging times, Queen’s continues to provide an educational experience that is recognized as one of the best in Canada.”

Student Satisfaction Survey

Utilizing an online survey, 14,000 students from across Canada submitted their views on their experience at university, providing a glimpse of overall student satisfaction. In the medical-doctoral category Queen’s placed third, behind Sherbrooke and Laval, in a repeat of last year’s results. Queen’s grabbed a spot in the top five in eight of the nine categories, led by a first place in extracurricular activities. Queen’s placed second in experiential learning and residence living, third in student life staff and administrative staff, fourth in course instructors and academic advising staff, and fifth for promoting Indigenous visibility.

National Reputational Ranking

Queen’s placed seventh out of 49 universities in the national reputational ranking, for a third year in a row. This ranking brings together all universities. For the reputational ranking Maclean’s surveyed university faculty and senior administrators, and a variety of businesspeople for their views on quality and innovation at universities. In the three categories of the ranking, Queen’s placed sixth for highest quality, seventh for most innovative, and ninth for leaders of tomorrow.

Program rankings

Maclean’s also looked at nine programs in the sciences and social sciences, assessing quality and research from a reputation perspective. Only the top 20 were highlighted for each program area, with Queen’s being ranked in each category, and made the top 10 in eight of the program rankings.

Queen’s saw an improved ranking in six programs, stayed the same in two, and dropped in one: Biology (7, up from 10); Business (4, up from 8); Computer Science (11, same); Education (8, same); Engineering (seven, up from 11); Environmental Science (8, up from 10); Mathematics (6, up from 13); Nursing (9, from 10); Psychology (10, down from 6).