Waterloo also achieved the rating of five star plus in the QS Stars for outstanding performance in eight individual areas: research, employability, teaching, facilities, internationalization, innovation, engineering and technology, and access.
“This University works hard to make sure that our students get an outstanding education and that we are producing research that will transform the way we understand the world around us,” said Feridun Hamdullahpur, president and vice-chancellor of Waterloo. “This ranking shows we are making progress to being recognized as one of the world’s top innovation universities and we remain focused on that goal.”
Waterloo is among 10 Canadian universities ranked in the top 200 in the world and is listed seventh of the Canadian schools. Waterloo is ranked third in Canada for Engineering and Technology and fifth in Canada for Natural Sciences.
QS introduced the star rating system in 2010 as a way for prospective students to make decisions about which school to attend, looking at criteria such as the employability of graduates, sports facilities and many others.
Universities are awarded with a star rating, ranging from one to five plus, depending on the number of points achieved through the evaluation. More than 50 different indicators contribute towards the overall assessment. These are grouped into 11 categories, from which each institution is evaluated in a total of eight.
Those awarded five stars must be world-class in a broad range of areas, enjoy an excellent reputation and have cutting-edge facilities and internationally renowned research and teaching faculty.
“Achieving a rating of five star plus in the QS Stars puts Waterloo in the same category of some of the world’s most prestigious universities, such as MIT and Monash University in Australia,” said Hamdullahpur. “Only 10 other institutions in the world have achieved this rating and we hope that it will help students as they make decisions on where to study.”
Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings ranks approximately 700 universities overall and in five faculty areas: Engineering and Technology, Life Sciences and Medicine, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, and Arts and Humanities.
The overall rankings come after QS ranked seven subjects at the University of Waterloo among the top 100 universities in the world in its subject rankings. Waterloo was ranked 24th in the world for its work in Computer Science and in Mathematics – second among Canadian universities in both subjects.
