Facts

Maclean's

What the Media Tells Us

% of Library Expenditures to Operating Expenditures - Source: Canadian Association of University Business Officers

% of Library Acquisitions to Library Budget - Source: Canadian Association of University Business Officers

% of Scholarships & Bursaries to Operating Expenditures - In the 2024 Canadian University Survey Consortium Graduating Student Survey 56% of U of L students reported receiving a scholarship, financial award or bursary compared to 38% of students from all institutions participating in the survey. Source: Canadian University Survey Consortium

% of Student Services to Operating Expenditures - Source: Canadian Association of University Business Officers

Residence of First-time, First-year Students in Previous Year Fall
2019		 Fall
2020		 Fall
2021		 Fall
2022		 Fall
2023
Alberta 84.8% 89.4% 83.2% 81.0% 74.9%
Out of province Canadian 8.9% 8.1% 10.2% 7.0% 6.9%
Outside of Canada 6.3% 2.5% 6.6% 12.0% 18.2%
Faculty with Terminal Degree Fall
2019		 Fall
2020		 Fall
2021		 Fall
2022		 Fall
2023
Full-time instructional faculty 317 316 300 304 284
Faculty with a doctorate, first professional or other terminal degree 303 312 295 296 275
Percentage of faculty with a terminal degree 95.6% 98.7% 98.3% 97.4% 96.8%
Retention Rate Fall
2018		 Fall
2019		 Fall
2020		 Fall
2021		 Fall
2022
First-time, first-year undergraduate students returning in second year 79.0% 79.4% 74.9% 74.5% 80.1%
Entry Semester
Graduation Rate Fall
2010		 Fall
2011		 Fall
2012		 Fall
2013		 Fall
2014
Full-time, first-year undergraduates 851 854 834 913 849
Number of students above who graduated 7 years after entry 600 604 602 716 624
Graduation rate 70.5% 70.7% 72.2% 78.4% 73.5%
Full-time, New Transfer undergraduates 952 938 866 776 693
Number of students above who graduated 7 years after entry 690 683 655 570 511
Graduation rate 72.5% 72.8% 75.6% 73.5% 74.8%
Full-time, new undergraduate students 1803 1792 1700 1689 1542
Number of students above who graduated 7 years after entry 1290 1287 1257 1286 1135
Graduation rate 71.5% 71.8% 71.8% 73.9% 73.6%
Grade Average * Fall
2019		 Fall
2020		 Fall
2021		 Fall
2022		 Fall
2023
First-time, first-year undergraduate final grade average for Alberta students 79.9% 82.1% 82.4% 82.5% 81.4%
* See The Problem with Comparing University Entering Grade Averages Across Canada
Percentage of Students
Grade Average Ranges Fall
2019		 Fall
2020		 Fall
2021		 Fall
2022		 Fall
2023
less than 70% 9.1% 7.0% 5.9% 5.4% 6.8%
70% - less than 75% 19.8% 12.2% 12.8% 13.3% 13.4%
75% - less than 80% 21.9% 19.9% 19.9% 18.4% 23.0%
80% - less than 85% 23.0% 24.0% 22.3% 24.0% 23.6%
85% - less than 90% 16.7% 19.5% 19.5% 20.7% 19.4%
90% - less than 95% 7.0% 12.4% 13.9% 13.6% 10.0%
95% or higher 2.4% 5.0% 5.7% 4.6% 3.8%
Undergraduate Class Sizes **
** For Fall 2020 and 2021 the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted normal delivery of classes and class size data were not collected.
First-Year and Second-Year Classes Fall
2017		 Fall
2018		 Fall
2019		 Fall
2022		 Fall
2023
Course registrants in first-year and second-year classes 17052 16768 17365 13090 14827
Total number of first-year and second-year classes 371 376 377 324 340
First-year and second-year average class size 46.0 44.6 46.1 40.4 43.6
Third-Year and Fourth-Year Classes Fall
2017		 Fall
2018		 Fall
2019		 Fall
2022		 Fall
2023
Course registrants in third-year and fourth-year classes 10414 10521 10300 7569 7641
Total number of third-year and fourth-year classes 430 448 442 361 368
Third and fourth year average class size 24.2 23.5 23.3 21.0 20.8

The Problem with Comparing University Entering Grade Averages Across Canada

The figures set out above make sense in the Alberta context if restricted to comparisons for very similar academic programs. But they don't make sense across different programs, and they are not usefully comparable with entering grade averages for universities outside the province. Valid comparisons to the decimal point across Canada are impossible given the lack of detailed data for every province that would allow adjustments for the many inter-provincial variables. Major variations in high school education practices (e.g., different course packages) and in grading systems, practices and standards lead to notable differences in university specifications of what should count for university entrance and how.

By way of illustration, consider the impact of two significant inter-provincial differences: age group university participation rates, and student preparedness as measured in the international PISA survey by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Adjustments to university entering grade averages for these factors would add 1.4% to the Alberta entering grade averages and elevate Alberta proportions in the higher grade ranges accordingly. The equivalent provincial adjustments for universities in the rest of Canada would produce a variety of changes, some up and some down, greatly changing their relative levels, and these two adjustments alone admittedly do not cover many more anomalies.

Furthermore, entering grade components and standards are applied differently across different programs, and the mix of programs is different for every university, even within the same province. The logical conclusion is that ranking precise entering grade averages at universities across Canada at face value is overly simplistic and distorts reality. It should not be done.