Lakehead jumps two spots in MacLean's university rankings

Lakehead University officials say they’ve jumped up another two spots in MacLean’s magazine’s annual ranking of Canadian universities.

The school sits eighth in the 2015 list of primarily undergraduate schools. That’s two better than the 2014 rankings and four better than the Thunder Bay institution ranked in 2013.

In a release issued by Lakehead late on Friday, the school says it ranks first in Ontario in total research dollars, social sciences and humanities grants and library expenses.

It also ranks second, according to data compiled by MacLean’s in several categories amongst Ontario universities, including student awards, student/faculty ration and operating budget.

“Our overall improvement in the rankings reaffirms the exceptional quality of the students, faculty and staff at our Orillia and Thunder Bay campuses,” said Moira McPherson, Lakehead’s provost and vice-president academic.

“Everythign we do at Lakehead is in the interest of nurturing scholarship and further enhancing the learning experience we offer our university community.

University president Brian Stevenson said the results, combined with their third-place finish nationally in Research Infosource’s rankings of the top 50 research universities report bode well for the school.

“I am very proud to see that our scholarship-centred initiatives, guided by our academic and strategic plans, continue to foster success across the many key area of our university,” Stevenson said in the release.

Sackville, N.B.’s Mount Allison University retains top spot in the primarily undergraduate category, which it has held since 2007.

The University of British Columbia moved up one spot to second, while Sudbury’s Laurentian University climbed into the top 10, a bump of four places.

Simon Fraser University took No. 1 in the comprehensive category, wrestling it away from the University of Victoria, while McGill topped the medical doctoral category, its 10th straight win.