Mount Allison University once again ranked top undergrauate school in Canada by Maclean's

Mount Allison University has again been named the top undergraduate school in Canada by Maclean's magazine in its 19th annual University Rankings Issue, which was released on Thursday, Nov. 5.

Mount Allison has been ranked as Canada's number one undergraduate university by Maclean's a record 13 times in the past 19 years and has never placed lower than second. No other university has led its category so many times.

"We are very pleased with the results," says Mount Allison president Robert Campbell.

"Our approach has always been to mix the best features of Mount A's past with the new and innovative in an intimate, high-quality environment. From campus to curriculum, facilities to programming, students to professors, and so on, we see the benefit and success of this approach in all that we do."

Mount Allison received top or high marks in many categories in the 2009 Maclean's rankings, including student awards, faculty awards, library holdings and support, and student-to-faculty ratio (15.3:1).

In the reputational survey, which asked experts, educators, and community leaders for their views on quality, innovation, and leadership at Canadian universities, Mount Allison ranked fourth overall in its category and placed in the top five for best overall, highest quality, and most innovative.

Maclean's also published responses to surveys of students, such as the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), which studied 769 Canadian and U.S. universities.

In the NSSE survey, Mount Allison had the top rating for student-faculty interaction, and ranked near the top for level of academic challenge, active and collaborative learning, enriching educational experience, and supportive campus environment.

Campbell also commended his regional institutional colleagues on another strong showing.

"Once again, the quality of the Maritime university experience is borne out. Taking three of the top four spots in our category speaks volumes about what we are doing here in the Maritimes," says Campbell.

The Maclean's results follow another strong showing in the Globe and Mail's Canadian University Report and significant back-to-back increases in first-year student numbers at Mount Allison.