WORLD> America
Three Canadian universities in top 50 list
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-10-10 08:44

OTTAWA -- Three Canadian universities were listed as the top universities in the world by Britain's prestigious Times Higher Education (THE) magazine and QS World University Rankings, local media reported Thursday.

McGill University in Montreal was named as one of the top 25 universities in the world while two other Canadian universities -- University of British Columbia (UBC) and  University of Toronto (U of T) -- finished in the top 50.

McGill was placed at 20th while UBC was ranked 34th and U of T placed 41st.

It is the fifth year in a row that McGill has been ranked in the top 20 universities in the world.

"It is gratifying to see McGill has once again been recognized as one of the very best universities in the world," said Heather Monroe-Blum, McGill's principal.

"It is important to remember that there are nearly 10,000 universities worldwide so even to be included on THE-QS list of 604 is a remarkable achievement."

Times Higher Education is a website devoted to higher education jobs, news and resources for university professionals. QS Quacquarelli Symonds is a global career and education network.

"The rankings use an unprecedented amount of data to deliver the most accurate measure available of the world's best universities and of the strength of different nations' university systems," said Ann Moroz, editor of THE.

"They are important for governments wanting to gauge the progress of their education systems and are used in planning by universities across the world."

Harvard University in the United States held the No. 1 spot.