B.C. university gets top marks in new ranking of world's best schools
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is once again raking in the accolades, placing high on a ranking of the world’s best schools in major subject areas.
According to the annual listings from QS World University Rankings, UBC has the most entries globally in the 16th edition of the prestigious list.
While the website also crowns a winner overall each year, it releases other reports, such as a breakdown by subjects, to help prospective students pick their perfect school.
Looking to study a specific subject? The latest QS World University Rankings by Subject are now live to help you compare your options.
Check the full ranking here: https://t.co/r1jOJUeC0l
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— QS Top Universities (@TopUnis) March 25, 2026
“The rankings highlight a global higher education landscape that is becoming both more competitive and more specialized,” said QS Senior Vice-President Ben Sowter in a release.
QS Quacquarelli Symonds compared over 21,000 academic offerings from more than 1,900 institutions in 55 subjects and five faculty areas.
UBC ranked 34th in the QS World University Ranking, just behind the University of Toronto in 21st place and McGill University in 30th.
Other notable B.C. institutions include Simon Fraser University at 318, University of Victoria at 322, and University of Northern British Columbia at 781-790.
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“Academic programmes are ranked over five indicators to effectively reflect their performance, taking into account academic reputation, employer reputation and faculty research,” explained QS.
UBC scored high in all five faculty areas in the latest QS World University Rankings by Subject.
The institution ranked 18th in Social Sciences and Management based on indicators like employability, research and discovery, and global engagement.
The school tied for 22nd in Natural Sciences, scored 23rd in Arts and Humanities, placed 25th in Life Sciences and Medicine, and tied for 29th in Engineering and Technology.
“The QS World University Rankings by Subject is also not an extensive list of universities,” added QS. “Just because a university doesn’t feature on a university ranking, it does not mean that it is a ‘bad’ university. Merely that it doesn’t score highly enough on QS’s chosen indicators to feature in that particular rankings table.”
The recent World University Rankings from the Center for World University Rankings (CWUR), an annual academic ranking of global universities that assesses the quality of education, alumni employment, faculty quality, and research performance, also gave UBC high marks.
UBC placed #48 out of 21,462 in the world, which lands it in the top 0.3 per cent globally.