Only 56.5 per cent of UNBC students graduate locally according to a study conducted by Maclean's Magazine.
The study, part of the Maclean's annual review of universities across Canada, ranked UNBC the 44th lowest out of 49 universities in Canada in terms of graduation rates. UNBC ranked ahead of the Universities of Winnipeg, Brandon, Saint Mary's, St. Thomas and Cape Breton. The study tracked undergraduate students who began their studies in 2007 and completed their degrees by 2014.
According to UNBC president Daniel Weeks, the time-frame for the study may have skewed results, partly due to the fact that the global economic recession in 2008 may have impacted the ability of students to complete their studies. This may have caused students to interrupt their degrees during the seven year period of the study.
"A great many of our students are working mothers or folks that are pursuing their degree part-time," Weeks said.
Weeks also pointed to the limits in programming at UNBC. As a smaller university, the campus is unable to provide the variety of programming of larger institutions such as UBC. Many students transfer to other institutions to pursue another field of study midway through their degree. These students would not be captured in UNBC's graduation statistics, according to Weeks.
"I don't take that as a negative thing. Quite frankly, that's a positive thing. That means that UNBC is doing one part of its mission very very well and that is to provide access to students in the north, and then to provide them with opportunity," Weeks said.
However, Weeks said UNBC was not acting as a feeder to other larger institutions.
"We're a destination university. We're a place to come to achieve your post-secondary aspirations. That being said, it is certainly the case that we can provide a gateway to students whose aspirations might want to take them elsewhere," he said.
According to figures supplied by the university, 438 full and part-time students transferred from UNBC to another institution in the 2007/2008 academic year. By 2013/14, the last year captured in the Maclean's study, this number had dropped to 299, a reduction of 31 per cent.
So far during the current academic year, 303 students have transferred elsewhere.
The graduation rates for the university have remained relatively constant over the last ten years, rising slightly from 55.4 per cent in 2007 to 56.5 per cent in 2017, although the rate dropped to 46.6 in 2012.
UNBC has ranked consistently high in the Maclean's ranking of smaller universities since 2007. The university ranked second highest this year in the primarily undergraduate category, and was bested only by Mount Allison University in New Brunswick.
