York University is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada’s fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, and over 325,000 alumni worldwide. It has 11 faculties, including the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies, Faculty of Science, Lassonde School of Engineering, Schulich School of Business, Osgoode Hall Law School, Glendon College, Faculty of Education, Faculty of Health, Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change, Faculty of Graduate Studies, School of the Arts, Media, Performance and Design, and 28 research centres.
York University was established in 1959 as a non-denominational institution by the York University Act, which received royal assent in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario on 26 March of that year. Its first class was held in September 1960 in Falconer Hall on the University of Toronto campus with a total of 76 students. In the fall of 1961, York moved to its first campus, Glendon College, which was leased from U of T, and began to emphasize liberal arts and part-time adult education. In 1965, the university opened a second campus, the Keele Campus, in North York, within the neighbourhood community now called York University Heights.
Several of York’s programs have gained notable recognition both nationally and internationally. York houses Canada’s oldest film school, which has been ranked one of the best in Canada, with an acceptance rate comparable to that of USC School of Cinematic Arts and Tisch School of the Arts. York’s Osgoode Hall Law School was ranked fourth best in Canada, behind U of T, McGill, and UBC. In The Economist‘s 2011 full-time MBA rankings, York’s Schulich School of Business ranked ninth in the world, and first in Canada, and in CNN Expansion‘s ranking of MBA programs, Schulich ranked 18th in the world, placing first in Canada. York’s School of Kinesiology and Health Science ranked fourth in Canada and 24th best in the world in 2018.
Over the last twenty years, York has become a centre for labour strife with several faculty and other strikes occurring, including the longest university strike in Canadian history in 2018.
Reputation
York University has ranked in a number of post-secondary rankings. In the 2021 Academic Ranking of World Universities rankings, the university ranked 301–400 in the world and 13–18 in Canada. The 2023 QS World University Rankings ranked the university 456th in the world, and sixteenth in Canada. The 2022 Times Higher Education World University Rankings ranked York 401–500 in the world, and 17th in Canada. York ranked 14th Globally and fourth in Canada in the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings for Climate Action. In the 2022 U.S. News & World Report Best Global University Ranking, the university ranked 456th in the world, and 17th in Canada. The Canadian-based Maclean’s magazine ranked York University sixth in their 2022 Canadian comprehensive university category.
The university’s research performance has been noted in several bibliometric university rankings, which uses citation analysis to evaluates the impact a university has on academic publications. The 2019 Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities ranked the university 488th in the world, and 19th in Canada, whereas the University Ranking by Academic Performance placed the university 488th in the world, and 19th in Canada.
York University has also been featured in rankings that evaluates the employment prospects of its graduates. In QS’s 2022 graduate employability ranking, the university ranked 301–500 in the world, and 10–17 in Canada.