With about 2,000 undergraduate students and a student-faculty ratio of 16:1, Trinity Western University offers small classes taught by well qualified professors (80 per cent have PhDs). The qualifications needed to study at the school are not so rigorous, however; applicants only need a 67 per cent average in their top four high school academic subjects, including English.
Yet the giant blue banners around campus proudly proclaim that TWU students surveyed by the Globe and Mail consistently give top marks to our quality of education. The Macleans survey gains similar results. No other Canadian university has had comparable success.
TWU offers 42 undergraduate majors ranging from Philosophy to Linguistics to Chemistry, but the greatest diversity is among religious programs. Biblical Studies, Religious Studies, Inter-Cultural Religious studies and Christianity and Culture are all distinct majors, and there is the possibility for a Missions minor and also a Catholic Studies certificate through partner-school Redeemer Pacific College.
As a small Christian liberal arts institution, Biola University is a lot like Trinity Western University, except with the religious requirements on steroids. Students must attend chapel three times a week, and the core requirements include 30 credits of Religious Studies classes.
The diversity of content and discussion in these classes and others is undoubtedly affected by the school’s admission requirements. All students must be evangelical Christians with a reference letter from a pastor. Impressively for a Christian university of its size, students need a GPA of 3.0 to be eligible for admission, and the average GPA of admitted freshmen is 3.52.
With about 4,000 undergraduate students, Biola has a student-faculty ratio of 17:1, and 68 per cent of the professors have their doctorates. The school offers 33 undergraduate majors including Urban Studies, Cinema and Media Arts, and Environmental Science.
The University of Victoria is consistently ranked among the top comprehensive universities in Canada. In particular, it is recognized for its leadership in research in a number of fields including Ocean Studies, Society and Health, and Global Change and Sustainability.
UVic is a mid-sized university with almost 17,000 undergraduate students. The campus is home to four libraries and 24-hour computer facilities. The average size of a first-year class is 54 students, and the student-faculty ratio is 25:1.
Students can choose between about 50 options for majors, with increased options for specializations, co-ops, and interdisciplinary and diploma programs. Programs range from Mediterranean Studies to Software Engineering to Indigenous Studies to Business students specializing in Entrepreneurship.
The University of the Fraser Valley has aced its transition from a college to university-college to university. In 2008, the Globe and Mail University Survey results declared that it was the top public university of any size when it came to overall quality of education, teaching, and student-faculty interaction. The school also got top marks for small class sizes and its library facilities.
UFV offers its 9000-plus students a choice of 15 majors and more than 80 certificate and diploma programs including trades. Programs run between one and five years, and include everything from Agriculture to Public Administration to Visual Arts. Many students choose to begin their arts or science degree at UFV before transferring to a more established school, usually after two years.
The University of British Columbia is the most internationally recognized school in B.C., and is ranked as one of the top three universities in Canada, and within the top 35 worldwide. Like UVic, UBC is a research university which receives millions of dollars, and sometimes hundreds of millions of dollars in research grants annually.
With professors deep in research on the cutting edge of their fields, it’s common to hear UBC students say that teaching assistants take the reins in classes. Also, 53 per cent of first and second year courses have more than 100 students. Nevertheless, UBC can boast the highest percentage of PhD level professors (99 per cent) out of all Canadian public universities.
The almost 37,000 students at UBC’s two main campuses can choose from 187 undergraduate majors. UBC has 17 faculties including Law and Medicine, and 14 schools including Journalism and Social Work. Students can choose anything from Asian Area Studies (the school has an extensive Asian Library) to doing a minor in Critical Studies in Sexuality.
