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Higher education from a Canadian perspective

What If There Were No Federal Department of Education?. Higher education from a Canadian perspective. Andrew Parkin and Noel Baldwin SHEEO Annual M eeting July 13, 2012. Outline. What is CMEC? Canada’s decentralized education system Postsecondary education systems in Canada

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Higher education from a Canadian perspective

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  1. What If There Were No Federal Department of Education? Higher education from a Canadian perspective Andrew Parkin and Noel Baldwin SHEEO Annual Meeting July 13, 2012

  2. Outline • What is CMEC? • Canada’s decentralized education system • Postsecondary education systems in Canada • Key features • Education attainment in Canada and the US • Catch us if you can! • Postsecondary policy challenges in Canada • Always room for improvement

  3. Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC) • CMEC is a Council composed of all provincial and territorial ministers responsible for education and postsecondary education (22 ministers in total). • Founded in 1967, CMEC is the collective voice of Canada’s ministers of education, serving as:  • a forum to discuss policy issues • a mechanism through which to undertake activities, projects, and initiatives in areas of mutual interest • a means by which to consult and cooperate with national education organizations and the federal government • an instrument to represent the education interests of the provinces and territories internationally

  4. Why CMEC?

  5. Education in Canada – A Provincial/Territorial Responsibility • Canada’s constitution gives exclusive jurisdiction over education to the provinces and territories. • There are 13 different education systems in Canada. • There is no federal department of education and no integrated national system of education. • While there are significant differences in structure, curriculum, and assessment practices and other policies among the jurisdictions, there are a great many similarities in the provincial and territorial education systems across Canada.

  6. Canada’s Education Systems

  7. Reflections (#1) “The findings…are both unexpected and interesting.” Canada’s “educational attainments are strong. Without national direction, the Canadian provinces have fashioned similar education sectors support by comparable levels of investments that record commensurable achievements. The evidence suggests that the absence of national standards has not translated into ineffective or strikingly dissimilar education sectors across the sub-national jurisdictions.” Jennifer Wallner, Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Regina (article in Publius: The Journal of Federalism)

  8. The Federal Role • Intergovernmental transfers • For postsecondary education • For “equalization” of revenues • Transfers to individuals and institutions • Student financial assistance • Research • Income support • Statistics Canada • Canada’s national statistics agency • Other • Labour market and skills development • Business innovation / R&D • International trade (promotion of education)

  9. Expenditure Per Elementary/Secondary Student % of national average, by groups of 10 states / 2 provinces (“fifths”)

  10. Postsecondary Education in Canada: Basic Facts • Number of provincially/territorially recognized and authorized universities and colleges: 280(approx.) • Number of public postsecondary students in 2009-10: • Total: 1,905,516 • Full-time university: 882,621 • Full-time college: 510,435 • Part-time university: 321,270 • Part-time college: 191,187 • Numerous private career colleges (vocational training)

  11. Tuition, 2011-12 (US$) 32% 30% *Estimates; two provinces charge modestly higher fees to out-of-province students **Excludes Quebec, where tuition is zero ***2006-07 tuition data in 2011 dollars Sources: The College Board, Trends in College Pricing 2011; Statistics CanadaTuition and Living Accommodation Costs Survey, 2011; Manitoba Council on Post-Secondary Education, 2007; Survey of Canadian Career College Students, 2008

  12. Employment Trends by Educational Attainment, 2008-2011 Source: Statistics Canada, Economic Downturn and Educational Attainment, Fact Sheet, June 2012.

  13. Canada: A Top Performer inReading, Math and Science (PISA 2009) PISA = Programme for International Student Assessment

  14. HS Drop-Out Rate: Halved over thePast Two Decades Percent Source: Labour Force Survey; see CMEC press release, November 3, 2010: High-School Dropout Rates Fall Dramatically. The dropout rate is defined as the share of 20 to 24 year-olds who are not attending school and who have not graduated from high school.

  15. Reflections (#2) • OECD: “Canada demonstrates, rather surprisingly, that success can be achieved without a national strategy. This observation runs counter to the instincts of many of those who sit in policy seats and seek to effect changes, but the fact is that Canada has achieved success on PISA across its provinces despite a limited to non-existent federal role.” • Maclean’s.ca: “Diversity in governance is another area of strength for Canada…We are in fact the only developed country without a national department of education. But this is not an obstacle, as our performance proves. Provincial control of education encourages experimentation and variety.”

  16. The U.S.’s Goal “…I askevery American to commit to at least one year or more of higher education or career training.  This can be community college or a four-year school; vocational training or an apprenticeship.  But whatever the training may be,every American will need to get more than a high school diploma.  And dropping out of high school is no longer an option.  It’s not just quitting on yourself, it’s quitting on your country – and this country needs and values the talents of every American.  That is why we will provide the support necessary for you to complete college and meeta new goal:  by 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.” • President Barack Obama • Address to Joint Session of Congress • February 24, 2009

  17. Who’s The Target? Top 12 OECD countries in percentage of the population aged 25-34 that has attained postsecondary education  OECD average Source: OECD Education at a Glance 2011

  18. The Secret to Our Success…(#1) Canada Cheats!

  19. College (Non-University) Attainment Top 20 OECD countries in percentage of the population aged 25-34 that has attained college education 26% 9% Source: OECD Education at a Glance 2011

  20. University Attainment Top 20 OECD countries in percentage of the population aged 25-34 that has attained university education 32% 30% Source: OECD Education at a Glance 2011

  21. The Secret to Our Success…(#2) Canada Cheats! (Again)

  22. Immigration and Educational Attainment United States • Percentage of population that is foreign born = 13% • Regions of origin: • Latin America = 53% • Asia = 28% • Europe = 12% • 32% of immigrants age 25+ do not have a high school diploma • 27% of immigrants age 25+ have a university degree • 11% of immigrants age 25+ from Latin America have a degree • Second generation immigrants do worse on PISA tests Canada • Percentage of population that is foreign born = 20% • Regions of origin • Latin America = 11% • Asia = 41%* • Europe = 37% • 12% of immigrants age 25-54 do not have a high school diploma • 34% of immigrants age 25-54 have a university degree** • 40% of immigrants age 25-54 from Asia have a degree • Second generation immigrants do better on PISA tests 32% 30% * 58% of recent immigrants ** 53% of recent immigrants Sources: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2010; Statistics Canada 2006 Census.

  23. Post-Secondary Participation among Second Generation Immigrants to Canada by Age 21, by Region of Origin, Versus Non-Immigrants Sources: Measuring the Effectiveness of Student Aid, Access to Post‐Secondary Education in Canada Among the Children of Canadian Immigrants, 2009 Sample restricted to youth with both parents from the same region

  24. Percentage of High School Students WhoAttend University by Income Group Source: Marc Frenette, “Is Post-Secondary Access More Equitable In Canada or the United States?” (Ottawa: Statistics Canada, 2005). See: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/050315/dq050315c-eng.htm

  25. Policy Challenges in Canada • Access for underrepresented groups • Flexible delivery • International student recruitment • Advanced degrees and learning outcomes • Data collection • (Backdrop: Finances)

  26. Access for Underrepresented Groups Despite high participation overall, access gaps still exist: • Higher-income students are 50% to 90% more likely to attend university than lower-income students; even larger gaps exist between students with and without parents with a postsecondary credential • Aboriginal students are nearly three times less likely to obtain a university degree than non-Aboriginal students • Rural students are 30% less likely to attend university than urban students • However, colleges have equitable or greater participation among all of these underrepresented groups

  27. Flexible Delivery Changes in the labour market are leading to an increasing number of non-traditional learners in postsecondary education. Governments and postsecondary systems are responding by: • increasing opportunities for mature students to get support in retraining; • working within and between jurisdictions to reduce unnecessary barriers to students transferring credit between institutions; • scaling up online, distance and open learning opportunities.

  28. International Student Recruitment In recognition of the benefits that international students bring to Canada and the importance of globally conscious citizens, provinces and territories have been working together to identify areas for investment to achieve: • a greater number of international students studying in Canada; • an increased share for Canada of the international student market; • more opportunities for Canadian students to study abroad; • a greater number of international students choosing to remain in Canada as permanent residents after graduation; • more global research linkages.

  29. Advanced Degrees and Learning Outcomes As aging demography affects labour markets, the push to increase Canada’s productivity and innovation has put the outcomes of university and college education in the spotlight: • Canada graduates fewer master’s degrees and business degrees per capita than the U.S. • Skills shortages persist in some information and communications technology occupations; a recent OECD report recommended expanding program offerings that integrate ICT with business and communications elements • An increasing emphasis is being placed on measuring student learning outcomes and student-assessment tools that evaluate higher-order thinking skills, not just knowledge of content

  30. Data Collection Canada trails many jurisdictions in the collection of data on postsecondary education and student outcomes. • Work is ongoing through the Canadian Education Statistics Council, a partnership between the Statistics Canada and CMEC. • Priorities for improvement include better data on: • student demographics; • system funding; • Aboriginal populations; • student financial assistance; • skills and labour market outcomes.

  31. Some concluding thoughts • Collaboration • Modernization • Globalization

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