Concordia stays put in Maclean’s 2011 university rankings

Concordia University remained in a relatively stable position in this year’s Maclean’s University Rankings, coming in 12th out of 15 universities in the ‘Comprehensive’ category.
The institution found itself in 11th place in 2010 out of 12 universities, but despite its position, school officials are expressing little concern about the effect of the rankings on the university.
“We donʼt expect that this ranking will affect enrollment at all,” said Bradley Tucker, director of institutional planning  and analysis at Concordia. “In 21 years of Macleanʼs rankings, our enrollments have continued to climb and our programs have continued to improve, regardless of our place on the list.”
Twenty-one per cent of Concordia applicants consulted Macleanʼs rankings when choosing a university, according to Tucker.
Tucker said that Macleanʼs doesn’t consider Concordiaʼs greatest drawing points in their rankings: the outstanding reputation of specific programs, and the connections the university gives students within the city of Montreal.
“Our 2006 Reputation Survey told us that the main reason students choose Concordia is because we provide the programs they want in the place they want. Reputation was not as big of an issue,” he said.
The magazine places institutions into one of three categories based on what they offer students: medical doctoral, comprehensive, and primarily undergraduate. With a wide range of programs at both graduate and undergraduate levels, Concordia is considered a comprehensive university.
Statistics Canada provides Macleanʼs with data for all financial indicators including operating budget, spending on student services, scholarships and bursaries, and library expenses and acquisitions.
With roughly 40 per cent of a universityʼs rank depending on these financial statistics, the majority of Quebec universities are left with diminished scores simply because of low financing and government regulation regarding the distribution of bursaries, Tucker said.
While upcoming tuition increases are intended to help resolve some of the finance issues in the province, bursaries in Quebec are directly managed by the provincial government. Tucker said this process has caused $20 million of bursary money destined for Quebec students to go unnoticed by StatsCan and Macleanʼs.
Concordia ranked 25th overall in the nation out of 49 universities. McGill University came in second place nationwide behind the University of Waterloo.

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