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University of Waterloo

Waterloo, Ontario · Founded 1957 · Official site ↗

B
Overall grade

Editorial standing

A-

Reputation & academic strength (100% editorial · no reviews yet). 83/100

Data transparency

Strong

How openly it publishes & sources its data. 70/100 · 3/4 signals

Compare to peersSee the rubric ↓

Report card

Methodology v2.3 →

Our own grades, computed from objective public data, relative to other universities. This is the school's overall quality. Click any row to see how University of Waterloo compares on that attribute.

Our method
AcademicsAcademic selectivity and strength of the entering class / program depth.AOutcomesHow students fare: retention, graduation and graduate employment.AValueCost to attend relative to peers (lower domestic tuition scores higher).C-BreadthRange of broad program areas offered.C-Campus & CommunityScale of campus life and residence availability.C+

Verified student outcomes

Outcome score 89/100

Published by the institution or government and linked to the official source. These are what drive our outcome-based rankings. The exact calculation that produced the 89/100 score is shown below.

Graduation rate
7-year graduation rate (2013 entering cohort, graduated by 2020) · as of 2022-23
83.5%Government of Ontario · dataset ↗
Graduate employment
2 years after graduation · Ontario University Graduate Survey (2020 graduates) · as of 2022-23
96.3%Government of Ontario · dataset ↗
First-year retention
Full-time first-year students who continued the next fall · as of 2023
94.1%University of Waterloo, Institutional Analysis & Planning (Performance Indicators) ↗
How we calculated this 89/100: the real numbers89/100

Each verified outcome is scored 0-100 against the range its peers actually publish, then blended by weight.

  1. First-year retention
    94.1%: first-year retention
    scaled within the 80-95% range across the 16 peers that publish it → 94/100, weighted 30%
    28 pts
    “Percentage of full-time, first year students … who continued their studies the next fall. 2023: Waterloo 94.1%”
    Extracted fromUniversity of Waterloo, Institutional Analysis & Planning (Performance Indicators) ↗· as of 2023
  2. Graduation rate
    83.5%: graduation rate
    scaled within the 62.3-90% range across the 20 peers that publish it → 77/100, weighted 35%
    27 pts
    “OUGS all-institutions table — Waterloo 0.80% 83.50% 87.10% 96.30% — Graduation Rate 83.5%”
    Extracted fromGovernment of Ontario · dataset ↗· as of 2022-23
  3. Graduate employment
    96.3%: graduate employment
    scaled within the 86-96.7% range across the 14 peers that publish it → 96/100, weighted 35%
    34 pts
    “OUGS all-institutions table — Waterloo 0.80% 83.50% 87.10% 96.30% — Graduate Employment Rate (2 Years) 96.3%”
    Extracted fromGovernment of Ontario · dataset ↗· as of 2022-23
Outcome score89/100

All 3 outcome metrics are verified to an official source.

Want the cohort-wide method behind these weights? See the full methodology.

Transparency

Strong · 70/100

How openly University of Waterloo publishes the data families need, keeps it current, and links it to an official source. We score whether the data exists, not the results themselves. Each signal's source and its share of the 70/100 are shown below.

Publishes student outcomes
3 of 3 outcome metrics sourced · 2 via official government dataset
source ↗35 pts2/2
Keeps published data current
latest figure as of 2023
source ↗10 pts1/2
Sources its competitive entry average
publishes no admitted average. Our entering grade is an editorial estimate, not sourced
0 pts0/1
Backs facts with verified official links
2 verified source links
source ↗25 pts2/2
How we calculated this 70/100: the real numbers70/100

Each signal can earn a share of 100 points equal to its weight; a partly-met signal earns proportionally less. The points below add up to the score.

  1. Publishes student outcomes
    3 of 3 outcome metrics sourced · 2 via official government dataset
    2/2 earned → 35 of 35 pts
    35 pts / 35

    3 of 3 outcome metrics sourced · 2 via official government dataset

    Sourceofficial source ↗
  2. Keeps published data current
    latest figure as of 2023
    1/2 earned → 10 of 20 pts
    10 pts / 20

    latest figure as of 2023

    Sourceofficial source ↗
  3. Sources its competitive entry average
    publishes no admitted average. Our entering grade is an editorial estimate, not sourced
    0/1 earned → 0 of 20 pts
    0 pts / 20
  4. Backs facts with verified official links
    2 verified source links
    2/2 earned → 25 of 25 pts
    25 pts / 25

    2 verified source links

    Sourceofficial source ↗
Transparency score70/100

We score whether the data EXISTS and is sourced, not the results themselves. A school is never penalized here for a low outcome, only for not publishing one.

v1 scores objective, automatically-checkable signals. Editorial clarity assessments (admission rubric, website, policies), grounded in University of Waterloo's own pages and human-reviewed before publishing, are being added.

Overview

Editorial

Canada's powerhouse for computer science, engineering and mathematics, built around the country's largest co-operative education program. Strong employer pipelines into tech and a maker/startup culture. Best for STEM-focused students who want paid work terms baked into the degree.

Recognized program strengths

EngineeringComputer ScienceMathematics

Derived from University of Waterloo's own published flagship/known-for programs. Used to weight our program-specific rankings.

Programs

39 programs · 10 fields

University of Waterloo offers programs across 10 fields, listed below at the program level. All 39 are confirmed on University of Waterloo's official programs page. Program outcomes roll up into the verified school-level figures above. We don't yet have verified program-level stats for these, so we mark each Unverified rather than show an estimate.

Agriculture & Environment2 listedSchools strong in Agriculture & Environment →
Architecture1 listedSchools strong in Architecture →
Arts & Humanities2 listedSchools strong in Arts & Humanities →
Business1 listedSchools strong in Business →
Computer Science3 listedSchools strong in Computer Science →
Engineering13 listedSchools strong in Engineering →
Health Sciences5 listedSchools strong in Health Sciences →
Mathematics4 listedSchools strong in Mathematics →
Natural Sciences5 listedSchools strong in Natural Sciences →
Social Sciences3 listedSchools strong in Social Sciences →

Program list compiled from University of Waterloo's published program areas and flagship programs. We verify outcomes program-by-program; until a program is verified its stats show Unverified.

Sources & citations

We cite every figure on this page. 3 of 5 stats currently link to a verified official source; the rest are marked Unverified until we confirm them against an official page. We never invent a citation to fill the gap.

  • Sourced. Backed by an official page we have verified: the figure appears on that page; follow the link to see it.
  • Official dataset. From an official government dataset whose per-institution figures are only available through an interactive lookup tool. The number isn't printed on a single page, so we link the dataset and state its name and year.
  • Estimate. Our editorial estimate. The school doesn't publish a single admission average, so treat this as approximate (competitive programs often run higher).
  • Computed by us. A value we calculate under our published, versioned methodology.
  • Editorial. Our own written summary. Confirm specifics on the school's official site.
  • Public info. A stable, publicly-known descriptor (campus type, residence, co-op, founding year), not a contestable statistic.
  • Unverified. A figure we state but haven't yet confirmed on an official page. We never fabricate a citation to fill the gap.
Data freshnessLast checked July 3, 2026

An automated checker re-verifies every official source on this page on a daily schedule. If a source page moves, breaks, or changes, it's flagged and the figure is held out of our rankings until it's re-confirmed against the official page. Most recent run for University of Waterloo: July 3, 2026. How we keep this current →

Data as of June 2026. Verified official pages are listed in the sidebar. Our citation policy → · Our accuracy log →

Student reviews

No student reviews yet. Be the first.

We're building this review library the honest way: verified accounts only, one review per person, every review moderated, and we never write fake reviews to fill space. Studied or studying at University of Waterloo? Your review helps the next family.

From the AdmissionPrep blog

Application guides from AdmissionPrep, our parent company.

Not sure what to study? Try AdmissionPrep's free program assessment ↗

Key stats

Avg. entering grade
~90%Estimate
Selectivity
Most selectiveOur method
Domestic tuition
$7,400/yruwaterloo.ca ↗
International tuition
$49,000/yruwaterloo.ca ↗
Total enrollment
41,000uwaterloo.ca ↗
Campus setting
suburbanPublic info
On-campus residence
YesPublic info
Co-op
YesPublic info

Data as of June 2026. Verified student outcomes (with their official source and the year each refers to) are in the “Verified student outcomes” section. Other figures here are public and cited where confirmed.

Curious where your average lands? Try AdmissionPrep's free GPA calculator ↗

How University of Waterloo ranks

See where it places among Canadian universities on verifiable student outcomes.

View the ranking →

Official sources

✓ Verified

Admissions links confirmed against The Maple List's source-of-truth registry.