With more than 14,000 faculty, 700 undergraduate programs and 90,000 students on three campuses, the University of Toronto is in a class of its own. St. George, the leafy downtown campus, has historic stone buildings alongside renowned modern architecture, while the newer Scarborough and Mississauga campuses are located in vibrant neighbourhoods in the east and west end of the city respectively.
U of T’s halls have echoed with the debates of future premiers and prime ministers. It is famous for research on insulin, bone-marrow transplants and regenerative medicine, and for pioneering work in artificial intelligence. In 2018, the university established the School of Cities to bring together researchers from across disciplines and its three campuses to address the challenges facing urban areas. The university also has initiatives to support student startup companies. Given its size, one might think professors would be too busy for undergraduates, but the university addresses this with small-group learning opportunities, such as first-year seminars.
U of T was named the top-placed Canadian university in Times Higher Education’s global ranking on employability of graduates for the second year in a row. “The university has worked hard to make sure graduates are equipped with both the academic credentials and the core competencies they need to succeed,” says president Meric Gertler.
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Standout Programs
• Urban Studies: This multidisciplinary program examines relationships among institutions, people and physical forms and how these influence cities; includes an internship with government or a non-profit group.
• Visual Culture and Communication: Prepares students to play a part in shaping 21st-century visual culture, bringing together history and theory from multiple disciplines to help students navigate global culture as digital technology expands.
• Engineering Science: Students begin with two foundational years, then major in their final two years in one of nine areas including aerospace, biomedical systems and machine intelligence; all students complete an independent research-based project.
Cool Courses
• Foods That Changed the World: Explores connections between food, environment, culture, religion and society; examines how food practices affect people of different identities.
• Rap Poetics: An intensive look at the form and rhetoric in rap lyrics, as well as the pre-history of the art form.
Tuition
$8,253
Minimum Entering Grades
Arts: 75-83% · Science: 75-92% · Commerce: 83-92% · Engineering: 85-93%
Student Body
Undergraduates: Full-time: 65,051 · Part-time: 6,472
Graduates: Full-time: 17,058 · Part-time: 1,496
International Students: First-year: 32.4% ·
Graduate: 17.9%
Male-Female Ratio: 44 to 56
Residence Spaces
8,927 (5,341 reserved for first-year students)
Residence Costs
Double room with meals: $11,220 to $16,311 · Single room with meals: $13,878 to $19,052 · Apartment-style: $5,706 to $10,143
More Schools: York University, McGill University, Ryerson University, University of Waterloo, Queen’s University
