November 2, 2006

For the secondyear in a row, UNBC has been ranked by Maclean’s as the best small universityin all of western Canada.This year, the University placed 4th in the magazine’s “primarilyundergraduate” category.  The only universities that performed better thanUNBC are at least 150 years old and all are in Atlantic Canada. 

The total rankingis made up from 22 individual measures, ranging from the average entering gradeof new students to the number of materials in the Library. UNBC highlights: 

• Classsizes at UNBC are among the smallest of any university in western Canada. Forexample, nearly 70% of first and second-year classes have fewer than 25students. 

• Thequality of students at UNBC is very high. While UNBC provides access tostudents who graduate from high school with a 65% average or greater, 40% ofnew UNBC students entered with an A average. The average entering grade of allfirst-year students is nearly 82%. 

• UNBCfaculty receive a large number of national awards and have one of the highestrates in the country for achieving a doctoral degree. Their ability to attractnational research funding – particularly in the social sciences and humanities– has been rewarded with a #2 ranking.
 
• Likewise,the UNBC Library is second for the proportion of its budget that it spends onnew acquisitions. Last year, the Geoffrey R. Weller Library spent $1.5 millionon new materials, 42% of which was directed to acquiring electronic libraryresources (mostly through online services). 

“Even though it’spleasing to see how we’ve succeeded in Maclean’s, it’s more important to usthat we’re making investments in areas that simply make us a betteruniversity,” says UNBC President Don Cozzetto. “We’re awarding morescholarships and bursaries than ever before, we’re attracting more students,we’ve seen a huge increase in our research activity, we’re offering morecourses in northern BC communities, and we’re developing new and popularprograms. These kinds of activities don’t always pay off in Maclean’s but theymake us more relevant to the province and to the North.” 

UNBC firstparticipated in the Maclean’s university ranking in 1998. Last year, it also placed4th, its highest ranking ever. 

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Access high-resolution photos of the University and President Cozzetto by clicking here. 

Contact:
Rob van Adrichem, Director ofMedia and Public Relations, UNBC – 250.960.5622