Queen’s held its position as one of Canada’s leading medical-doctoral universities according to the Maclean’s 2018 university rankings, placing fourth overall in the category.

Queen’s trailed only McGill University, the University of Toronto and the University of British Columbia in the category that includes 15 universities with a broad range of Ph.D. programs and research, as well as medical schools.

In the student satisfaction ranking Queen’s moved up one spot to second, placing in the top three in eight of the 10 categories. Queen’s led the way in terms of student life staff and extracurricular activities, and placed second in administrative staff, academic advising staff, residence life and bureaucracy (least red tape), as well as steps to prevent sexual assault.

“The results of the Maclean’s rankings speak to the quality of a Queen’s education,” says Principal Daniel Woolf. “In particular, I am pleased to note that Queen’s ranked second in the steps to prevent sexual assault category in the student satisfaction survey, which reflects the hard work and importance the university and Queen’s community has placed on making the university a safe and supportive environment for all students, staff and faculty.” 

Maclean’s also provided statistics that showed Queen’s is tops in the proportion of undergraduate students who graduate (89.5 per cent), second in student retention from first to second year (94.7 per cent), and fifth for average entering grade (89 per cent).

“The results of the Maclean’s rankings speak to the quality of a Queen’s education. In particular, I am pleased to note that Queen’s ranked second in the steps to prevent sexual assault category in the student satisfaction survey, which reflects the hard work and importance the university and Queen’s community has placed on making the university a safe and supportive environment for all students, staff and faculty.”                                                                                                                          – Principal Daniel Woolf

Queen’s had strong results in several other categories in the overall ranking, placing second in faculty awards and in scholarships and bursaries, while placing fourth in student awards and library expenses.

Queen’s placed eighth out of 49 universities in the national reputational ranking, which surveyed high school guidance counsellors and businesspeople as well as university faculty and senior administrators. In the three categories of the reputational ranking, Queen’s placed sixth for highest quality, eighth for most innovative, and 10th for leaders of tomorrow.