The University of Toronto has once again prevailed as the top-ranked Canadian institution in the QS world university subject rankings, which were released at midnight on May 8. U of T placed first for 20 of 30 subjects in Canada, with UBC receiving six first places, and McGill three.
Internationally, U of T ranked in the top 20 in 30 subjects, coming in eleventh in Philosophy and Medicine and twelfth in Modern Languages, Math, and Sociology. Full results can be seen here.
The 2013 QS World University Rankings by Subject assessed 678 institutions in total, highlighting the top 200 in each subject. In determining the rankings, QS used research, teaching, employability and internationalization as metrics.
The rankings have been criticized in recent years for their research methodology. Notably, the rankings include subjects that do not exist at certain universities.
QS explains that it is possible to assess universities even “in disciplines that they do not operate [in] due to overall reputation, lending assumed status, or strengths in closely related disciplines.”
The QS ranking is the only global ranking divided into subjects, and is used by the university administration as a talking point in recruiting new students.
U of T placed in the top five in Canada in all subjects ranked, except for Communication and Media Studies.
