Top Universities With Less Than 5000 New Students [Infographic]
An important way we can pass along value is to help students discover the hidden, but outstanding, University options available to them. Most of us are familiar with the provincial University that a family member or friend attended. Beyond that, few of us know what options are available, or which schools may be a great fit. This is particularly true for those in the northern half of our country, often without local options, or international students considering Canada.
Many of these lesser-known schools have outstanding student and alumni satisfaction ratings. Larger Universities cannot offer the small class sizes and one-on-one time with faculty. Yet, these Universities are rarely mentioned in the media and few are evaluated by the University ranking bodies. So we set out to shine a spotlight on the smaller Universities across Canada, that are too often overlooked.
We looked at every 4-year University in Canada and this is how we select the best-in-class cohort:
The result is a never-before-seen look at the Best-in-Class Universities with less than 5000 new students:
Many of these lesser-known schools have outstanding student and alumni satisfaction ratings. Larger Universities cannot offer the small class sizes and one-on-one time with faculty. Yet, these Universities are rarely mentioned in the media and few are evaluated by the University ranking bodies. So we set out to shine a spotlight on the smaller Universities across Canada, that are too often overlooked.
We looked at every 4-year University in Canada and this is how we select the best-in-class cohort:
- Must take fewer than 5000 new students per year
- Must take more than 500 new students per year (to help avoid focused organizations on degree specialization, and religion)
- An average 1st year and 2nd year class size below 75 students or a student/faculty ration below 35 (incomplete data required multiple measures).
- An average yearly tuition cost below $7,000 per year
- Graduate rates above 48% (low graduation rates may indicate a lack of institutional support or degrees taking longer than 4 years to complete)
- Employment outcomes at 6 months above 85% or at 2 years above 90% respectively (the national average is ~87% and ~94%, two metrics are used due to inconsistent reporting metrics)
- A Top 15 Student Review ranking from McLean’s Students’ Favourite Universities in Canada.
The result is a never-before-seen look at the Best-in-Class Universities with less than 5000 new students:
Best In Class Details
University |
Province |
Yearly Enrolment (undergrad) |
Average Tuition (undergrad) |
Student/ Faculty Ratio |
Graduation Rate |
6-Month Employment Outcome (> 85%) |
2-Year Employment Outcome (> 90%) |
Student Review Ranking |
Average 1st & 2nd Year Class Size |
MacEwan University |
Alberta |
4724 |
$4620 |
15.6 |
Unreported but confirmed manually |
- |
Yes |
1-11 |
Not reported |
University of Lethbridge |
Alberta |
1983 |
$4974 |
16.0 |
74% |
- |
Yes |
8 |
44 |
University of Victoria |
British Columbia |
4716 |
$5368 |
22.4 |
66% |
- |
Yes |
1-7 |
65 |
University of Northern British Columbia |
British Columbia |
767 |
$5111 |
15.0 |
53% |
- |
Yes |
4 |
38 |
University of Winnipeg |
Manitoba |
2349 |
$3405 |
23.9 |
45% |
- |
Yes |
14 |
37 |
Brandon University |
Manitoba |
785 |
$3440 |
12.7 |
48% |
- |
Yes |
19 |
30 |
University of New Brunswick |
New Brunswick |
2265 |
$6496 |
17.8 |
78% |
- |
Yes |
1-10 |
39 |
Memorial University of Newfoundland |
Newfoundland and Labrador |
3855 |
$2550 |
16 |
61% |
- |
Yes |
1-14 |
44 |
Saint Mary's University |
Nova Scotia |
1726 |
$6800 |
23.5 |
52% |
- |
Yes |
12 |
49 |
St. Francis Xavier University |
Nova Scotia |
1204 |
$6985 |
19.7 |
70% |
- |
Yes |
2 |
45 |
Cape Breton University |
Nova Scotia |
785 |
$6319 |
16.9 |
56% |
- |
Yes |
17 |
30 |
Mount Saint Vincent University |
Nova Scotia |
731 |
$6204 |
18.3 |
72% |
- |
Yes |
7 |
28 |
University of Guelph |
Ontario |
4950 |
$6276 |
33.6 |
72% |
Yes |
Yes |
1-2 |
Not reported |
Laurentian University |
Ontario |
2050 |
$6163 |
18.2 |
70% |
Yes |
Yes |
13 |
30 |
Nipissing University |
Ontario |
1575 |
$6055 |
26.2 |
67% |
Yes |
Yes |
5 |
26 |
University of Prince Edward Island |
Prince Edward Island |
1063 |
$5860 |
16.3 |
66% |
- |
Yes |
11 |
36 |
Université de Sherbrooke |
Quebec |
3373 |
$4778 |
16 |
85% |
- |
Yes |
1-9 |
31 |
Bishop's University |
Quebec |
611 |
$4770 |
21.9 |
73% |
- |
Yes |
1 |
35 |
University of Regina |
Saskatchewan |
2673 |
$6570 |
19.7 |
57% |
- |
Yes |
1-13 |
37 |
Data & Statistical Sources:
Statista.com was used as the main portal for data from the following organizations:
- Statistics Canada (http://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=getSurvey&SDDS=3121)
- Universities Canada (https://www.univcan.ca/universities/facts-and-stats/)
- Council of Ontario Universities (http://cou.on.ca)
- McLeans University Rankings (http://www.macleans.ca/education/unirankings/university-rankings-2017/)
- University Hub Canada Ranking (https://universityhub.ca/university-rankings/)
- The Times Higher Education World Ranking (https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2017/reputation-ranking)
- Academic Ranking of World Universities (http://www.shanghairanking.com/ARWU2017.html)
- Public information from each Canadian Universities such as 6 month and 2 year employment data.
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