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This year's University Report Card reflects the opinion of 26,198 undergraduates, all current full- or part-time students, who are members of the studentawards.com on-line database. The results are derived from answers to more than 80 questions.
A number of strict controls were built into the process to help to ensure that those included in the sample represent Canadian undergraduates. A mean score for each university is calculated for each question, based on the responses of students who attend that school. Universities are assigned a letter grade that matches their mean scores — out of a maximum of 5.0 — for each variable. The letter grading is based on the following grid:
A+ = 4.6 and above; A = 4.4; A- = 4.2; B+ = 4.0; B = 3.8; B- =3.6; C+ =3.4; C = 3.2; C- = 3.0; D = Less than 3.0.
This approach to grading was developed from analyzing the distribution of mean scores from an index variable, developed from an aggregate score based on each of the measurements of satisfaction about the university-experience examined in the survey.
The grid was then applied to the mean score of responses received from each university, for each variable, and grades were assigned based on the mean score received. Because sample sizes are significantly smaller when comparing one university to another, there may not be statistically significant differences separating universities that receive different letter grades, although their mean scores are different.
Universities are grouped into three sizes: Large: enrolment over 25,000; medium: 12,500 and 25,000; small: under 12,500.