Canadian universities tumbled in the in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University rankings, released Tuesday, with its eight Top 200 institutions dropping a cumulative 121 spots. McMaster University and the University of Montreal led the fall by dropping 36 and 32 spots, respectively. Only the University of Waterloo rose in the Top 200 going from No. 169 in 2014-15 to No. 152 in 2015-16.
Western found itself ranked No. 192 in the 2015-16 rankings of the Top 200 universities in the world. That number was down from No. 191 in 2014-15.
“Under this year’s refined methodology, some of Canada’s institutions face a year on year drop,” said Ben Sowter, QS Head of Research. “Objectively, however, Canada performs very well with four institutions amongst the top 100. That’s the same as Germany, a country with more than double the population and GDP.”
McGill University was the highest ranking Canadian institution at No. 24, down from No. 21 last year. The remaining Top 200 included the University of Toronto (No. 34, down from No. 20), University of British Columbia (No. 50, down from No. 43), University of Alberta (No. 96, down from 84), University of Montreal (No. 115, down from No. 83), McMaster University (No. 149, down from No. 113), University of Waterloo (No. 152, up from No. 169) and Western.
Overall, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) again topped the rankings, just ahead of the Harvard University. University of Cambridge, Stanford University and California Institute of Technology rounded out the Top 5.
U.S. and U.K. universities continued to dominate the top tier of the rankings, occupying 15 of the Top 20 places.