Laurentian University at the bottom of Maclean's student satisfaction ranking

When it comes to student satisfaction, Laurentian University came in 19 out of 19 in this year's annual Maclean's magazine ranking of universities across Canada.

The publication surveys post-secondary students and then ranks schools based on several performance factors. Those results are used to rank the schools on a number of factors including resources, reputation, and student satisfaction.

Robert Haché is the president of Laurentian. He says the overall yearly rankings help to show both the school's strengths and its challenges.

Laurentian was named 12th overall in the category of primarily undergraduate in the 2020 Maclean's rankings.

As far as this year's student satisfaction rating, Haché says it shows there are some things they need to look at.

"It sends a message in terms of how the students are interpreting it."

Haché says Laurentian's strategic plan, created two years ago, focuses on students and the student experience.

"I would say that we are very much working to improve this and not waiting for the ranking to do so. I think we're trying to be as proactive as we can as an institution always thinking of our students first and providing them with the best experience they can have."

Haché suspects the poor student satisfaction results are partially due to financial constraints students are under in Ontario.

"I think that does translate into an experience that may be a little bit leaner in terms of all of the supports that can be provided, and that's simply a result of the funding that we receive."

Haché says this is a fairly focused survey and involves a relatively small number of students.

He says when the student satisfaction results are broken down further, there are some good results within the various sub-categories, for instance, Laurentian came in sixth overall in terms of the quality of the residence. He says other information about the university is also good to keep in mind.

"Our students are employed following graduation at the second highest rate in the province of Ontario. They also have the second highest starting salaries in the province of Ontario. So there's a lot of really positive things that come out of their education."

Maclean's does not publicly reveal how many students from each school participate in its yearly survey. A spokesperson for the publication did tell CBC News that if a school requests that number they will reveal it to the school specifically.