Three of Canada’s top universities slipped from their previously high positions in the 2014 Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings.
According to the ranking table, the University of British Columbia (UBC) and McGill University are tied for 33rd place. Both have fallen down two places since the last rankings, when they were also tied, but for 31st place.
The University of Toronto is the only Canadian university in the top 20. However, it also continued the downward trend by falling four spots from its previous 16th place.
Randy Schmidt, UBC’s public affairs director, said “there are many university rankings, and they are just one element of assessing institutions of higher learning.”
“Others might [rank] the amount of research funding we attract, or the numbers of top students that are applying to our programs from around the world,” Schmidt said. “By any of these measures, UBC continues to grow in its global stature.”
Schmidt said since rankings fluctuate, it is important to view these changes over longer periods of time.
“UBC consistently ranks in the top 40 across several of the most reputable rankings,” he said.
Schmidt said this particular ranking, called a “reputation ranking,” is the “least rigorous” of them all, because it is based on opinion surveys.
“Surveys of widely differing institutions across a diverse global audience of academics are likely to yield changes from year to year, and certainly no single year should be taken as having particular significance,” he said.
Schmidt said UBC’s plans are “driven by our vision and mission, and not by rankings.”
