UBC receives high marks for international makeup
UBC is now among the most international academic institutions in the world, placing 12th in the Times Higher Education report earlier this month.
The new ranking — which takes into account the number of international students, faculty, coauthored research papers and reputation-related factors — is up sharply from 40th place a year ago, and places UBC first among Canadian institutions such as McGill (23rd), University of Alberta (31st) and University of Toronto (32nd).
While UBC’s increased focus on drawing international undergraduate students has drawn most of the attention, the higher ranking reflects more the school’s efforts on the faculty side, UBC provost Angela Redish said.
“When you hire international faculty, they are more likely to bring those international connections with them,” Redish said, noting graduate students and other foreign researchers also gravitate to a more globalized faculty. “I actually think that is probably the most important channel.”
Redish said UBC has been successful in getting research grants and industry partnerships, which often have international links. She said some programs — such as a recent fund for international PhD students — is creating more cross-border research momentum than ever before.
UBC officials also noted the growth of international undergraduate students, with 12,000 — or 23 per cent — of all students on campus now being from abroad.
Simon Fraser University’s international students make up 18 per cent of its student body.
The issue of attracting more foreign undergraduate students to Canadian schools because of the revenue they bring has been hotly debated, with some observers concerned it could lead to a drop in the quality of education.
Kwantlen Polytechnic University Prof. Shinder Purewal, a supporter of international student programs, cautioned schools to consider reining in the undergraduate portion while continuing their efforts on the graduate side.
“The universities are mainly the research centres … with a duty to train future researchers; the research is carried out mainly by PhD students and the faculty,” Purewal said. “The undergraduate student population is largely a business component of the university’s financial fiscal plan. … When foreign students are occupying nearly one in four seats at undergraduate level at a prestigious university like UBC, Canadian students are losing all those chances to study at a taxpayer-funded university.”
Redish, however, noted the undergraduate component carries a unique value through the perspective it adds.
“When I was teaching about hyperinflation, the Canadian students have no idea beyond( knowing) that it’s a problem,” said Redish, also a professor of economics. “But I’ve had international students in the class who experienced hyperinflation, and they can speak to what it really means. … That’s important, because our students will be working and living in a globalized world.”
UBC officials said the social climate in the U.S. has driven up interest in UBC among graduate students and teachers.
Global job website Indeed.com said in a recent report that, with the U.S. considering reductions in a key visa program, 42 per cent of those jobseekers — many of them graduate students looking for their next step — are looking to Canada. Industry observers say such trends can also indicate the intentions of graduate program applicants, for whom employment and settlement play key roles in their decision.