Nova Scotia Buzz
Once upon a time, St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia waited with eager anticipation for the annual Maclean’s magazine university rankings to be released so they could promote that they were number one again.
Those years have come and gone and St. FX University has once again fallen short of the number one position. This year they are tied for ninth position out of the 19 Canadian undergraduate universities ranked by Maclean’s. That is a fall of three places from last year’s sixth ranked position.
Some other Nova Scotia universities faired better. Saint Mary’s is ranked fourth, the same as last year. Acadia falls two positions to fifth from last year’s third. Ranking lower in the results are Mount Saint Vincent, they gain one position to 17 after being 18th last year. Cape Breton University comes in last, as they did last year.
Students rank St. FX on low end for mental health services and sexual assault prevention.
More than 19,000 university students responded to Maclean’s online survey and provided their opinions on professors and staff, residence life, opportunities for extracurricular activities and experiential education, such as co-op programs. Students were also asked about topics like mental health services and if they think their university is doing enough to prevent sexual assault on campus.
Students noticeably ranked St. FX on the very low end for mental health services (15 out of 19) and sexual assault prevention (18 out of 19) for primarily undergraduate universities.
Although placing low in the undergraduate rankings as calculated by Maclean’s, St. FX was still voted number one for student satisfaction at primarily undergraduate universities. They voted the school very high for their course instructors, student life, admin staff, academic advisors, extracurriculars, experimental living and residence living.
