CALGARY -- A southern Alberta university is listed second overall on a national news magazine's annual ranking of Canadian universities.

The University of Lethbridge is second in the primarily undergraduate classification of this year's Maclean's University Rankings, the highest ever placement for the school in its history.

"It’s exciting to see the efforts of our faculty, staff and students recognized, because it takes our entire community working together to achieve success," said Dr. Mike Mahon, president and vice-chancellor in a release.

"We strive at every level to provide the best student experience, academic experience and research experience for our community of learners and teachers. We believe we offer the best option in the country and one of the best experiences in the world, so it is gratifying to see this reflected in the ranking metrics."

Student satisfaction at the institution is also up, putting the school at eighth place in that category among all Canadian universities.

"Our focus is and always has been on providing an unparalleled learning environment for our students, research experiences at both the undergraduate and graduate stages of their academic careers and growing a research program that betters the lives of people in southern Alberta and beyond," McMahon said.

In last year's ranking, the U of L placed fifth.

The University of Alberta place sixth overall among Canada's top medical doctoral schools while the University of Calgary tied for eighth with the University of Ottawa and Western in London, Ont.