We must have had something of a seven-year itch. This is the seventh incarnation of our exclusive national survey of undergraduate student satisfaction—and its accompanying magazine—and it comes with a new name, the Canadian University Report, and a fresh new look.

More Canadian University Report 2009 Reports

• Lean green campus machines
• 2008 survey results
• If you build it green, they will come
• Examples of student-driven projects
• No commute, no crowds, no worries
• Good for grads?
• Cozy ambience, big-time degree
• Education à la carte
• Crossing over
• Out of the classroom, into your iPod
• Thirsty for the next Gatorade
• The new centres of excellence
• Chasing the big bucks
• Your first assignment: Read this
• On your marks. Get set. Elbows out. Are you ready for the course race?
• What would Da Vinci do?
• Which Canadian schools are world-class?
• Q & A with University of Calgary president Harvey Weingarten
• Q & A with University of New Brunswick president John McLaughlin
• Q & A with Ryerson University president Sheldon Levy
• Life begins (again) at forty
• The $24,000 campus
• But will they still eat Kraft Dinner?
• How I became a campus diva

The University Report Card started life in 2002 as the original national survey of Canadian students—an initiative that was not widely welcomed by the university establishment. But these days, with post-secondary educators having fully bought into the idea of providing good customer service to their fee-paying clients, student surveys are so much part of the landscape that administrators talk wearily of "survey fatigue." With that in mind, we heartily thank not only the undergraduates who took time to fill in our questionnaire, but also the many universities that have supported our initiative.

Our survey has grown this year to more than 43,400 students, allowing us to grade the performance of no less than 55 universities, but its goal remains the same: to provide university applicants and their parents a unique view into what it's truly like to study, eat, drink, play and live on any one of these campuses. The campus officials who parse these results for feedback can take heart; Canadian undergrads are, on the whole, a fairly happy bunch and conscious of the excellent education most of them get. Challenges however, remain, especially for the big urban commuter campuses that need to keep working at providing a more intimate campus atmosphere and classroom experience to match their academic reputation.

In tandem with the changes to the Canadian University Report, we have also been looking to create a much richer online experience for readers seeking information on higher education. The result, Globe Campus, boasts an exhaustive Campus Navigator tool for comparing post-secondary options and the University 101 how-to resource for applicants, together with podcasts, blogs and a rich archive of The Globe and Mail's education content. Please take a look at globecampus.ca.

As ever, we are greatly indebted to our key partners, The Strategic Counsel and Educational Policy Institute, for their tireless work and advice on the annual survey and the development of Globe Campus.

Enjoy the Canadian University Report. May it help you find the university that's right for you.

About our photography

There's something different about the feature photography you'll see with the stories. Instead of employing Globe and Mail staff or freelance photographers to provide the visual images for the stories, photo editor Clare Jordan enlisted the services of some incredibly talented young photographerswho are either current or recent students. We think you'll agree that they repaid her faith.

The photographers are the following, and you can find more information about them on their websites:

Michael Morrison

Eric Kaluzny

Dustin Parr

Jasmine Bakalarz

Chris Boyne

Erika Jacobs

Hudson Hayden

Ryan Hughes