Hellosafe, a Canadian financial website, has released its ranking for the “Best Cities for Students in Canada,” and has Prince George sitting 38th out of 47 cities – the bottom of the eight B.C. cities on the list.
UNBC President Dr. Geoff Payne is not overly concerned about the low ranking.
“As someone who has been here and lived in Prince George for close to 20 years, there are definitely some things that the Prince George region offers for students,” he said.
He cited some of those things as the green spaces and outdoor opportunities that surround the city, a “unique lifestyle,” and a vibrant community – “I think there were some things they might have missed.”
The rankings were broken down into 4 main criteria – Quality of Life, Attractiveness, Quality of Student life, and Academic Excellence and cost of studying – with 16 smaller points to be graded on split between those ideas.
Regardless of the survey, Payne said the University is always looking for ways to improve the student experience in Prince George.
He also pointed out the rankings were geared towards larger cities.
The top 10 were:
- Kingston
- Montreal
- Vancouver
- Sherbrooke
- Calgary
- Edmonton
- Quebec City
- St. John’s
- Hamilton
- Toronto
Prince George was one of the smaller cities on the list, and the farthest north of any of the 47.
“That is fine, but there are things we can also look at from smaller centers like ours,” he said.
The higher staff to student ratio and the lower cost of living compared to some of these larger cities are two things that Payne said UNBC and Prince George really have going for them.
On the upside, Prince George climbed nine spots year-over-year and ranked 21st in academic excellence.
“Overall I do feel the students feel the experience is quite good,” he said. “We take the information and continue to move forward.”
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