The world-renowned University of Waterloo is at the centre of Waterloo’s reputation as a dynamic tech ecosystem. It’s the driving force behind CBRE recognizing Waterloo as the #1 small tech talent market in North America, it’s also the reason companies keep coming to Waterloo, or expanding their existing operations here. In our community you’ll find some of the strongest tech talent in the Toronto-Waterloo Corridor.
With a love for friendly competition, you’ve seen us put the University of Waterloo head-to-head against top universities from all over the world – Germany, the United Kingdom, California and Boston. The result? Canada’s most innovative university more than holds its own.
Fueled by our continuous curiosity, we’ve taken another data deep-dive, this time comparing the University of Waterloo to New York State’s finest universities, including two Ivy League institutions. How will University of Waterloo match up to NYU, Columbia and Cornell? Let’s explore the data and find out.
Here’s how the University of Waterloo compares to New York’s top tech schools:
Round One: Overall Computer Science Ranking
Source: QS University Subject Rankings, 2022
A competitive top-25 finish here for the University of Waterloo, which also ranks #1 for computer science in Canada. Placing this closely to these New York giants is not only a source of pride for Waterloo, but also lends itself to the potential to close the gap even further in years to come as they continue to push the envelope on innovation and solidify their place at the global table of post-secondary tech titans.
Round Two: Computer Science Program Size
Sources: University of Waterloo, University College London, Queen Mary University of London, King’s College London, Imperial College London, 2022
The University of Waterloo earns a huge lead over its New York competitors with almost 4000 students enrolled in their computer science program. In fact, you could combine Cornell and Columbia’s enrollment and it still doesn’t equal University of Waterloo’s enrollment.
*Numbers for the New York universities are an estimate based on annual admissions.
Round Three: Overall Graduate Employability Ranking
Source: QS University Rankings 2022
The ‘Big Apple’ universities take the win here, but the University of Waterloo is still close on their heels. The University of Waterloo has a long history of producing high quality graduates, thanks to their incredible, decades strong co-op program, which ensures that graduates leave their program with two years of on-the-job work experience.
Round Four: Research Capabilities
Source: QS University Rankings, 2022
Research and development are among the core foundations of the University of Waterloo – it’s why they’ve been named Canada’s most comprehensive research university for 14 consecutive years. It’s why we’re not surprised to see them earn this honourable finish, behind Cornell but easily ahead of NYU and Columbia.
Round Five: Entrepreneurship (0-100)
Source: Pitchbook, Top Schools for Founders, 2022
In our final round we compare the universities by their aptitude for producing successful entrepreneurs, according to the Pitchbook University Rankings latest report. The University of Waterloo earns a respectable 21st place in the world, but also 1st place in Canada, which is well deserved since about 18% of all Canadian tech founders studied there.
If you’re looking for Canadian tech talent on the heels of the competition from Ivy League universities, look no further than the top-quality talent emerging from the University of Waterloo. They’re driven by a deeply rooted innovative nature, and they’re primed to hit the ground running.