As discussed in a couple of earlier posts (here and here), we recently completed a survey of Maritime students who study at Memorial University of Newfoundland. As noted earlier, Maritime migrant students (i.e., those who re-located to study on campus full-time) tended to rank total cost the most important influence on their decision to study at Memorial while Maritime students studying via distance education in their home provinces tended to pick program availability as the most important influence in their choice of university.
We also provided students with a list of factors that students often consider when choosing a university and asked them to rank the importance of the factors on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being 'not important at all' and 5 being 'very important'. In the table below, I provide a summary of responses to this question for the total group surveyed as well as the Migrant student and Distance student sub-groups.
While students gave the overall highest ranking to program availability, there were significant differences in rankings provided by Migrant and Distance Students. Factors relating to finances, including total cost, tuition fees, availability of need-based financial aid, and availability of scholarships, were ranked significantly higher for students in the Migrant group.
Monday, 31 January, 2011
Maritimers at MemorialU: Financial factors rank higher for migrants
Sunday, 30 January, 2011
Canada-US migration of PhD grads a good thing?
According to a recent Statistics Canada report, about 27% of those who graduated with a PhD in Canada in 2005 left the country after finishing their programs. In an interview with University World News, Dr. Douglas Peers, former president of the Canadian Association for Graduate Studies, discusses potential positive impacts of Canada-US migration of PhD graduates:
"Most of those going to the US were going for post-docs, which is not necessarily a bad thing," Peers explained. "Particularly if they've been doing most of their research in Canada, it's not a bad thing to get more experience abroad."
Peers called what is happening a 'brain chain', where diverse and multicultural research experiences are valued. "What we want to talk about is a brain chain which encourages people to move in between large and increasingly complicated research networks," said Peers. "Having people move around is important because you don't want to become isolated, particularly when so much of the really important research nowadays is truly universal in scope."
Friday, 28 January, 2011
Adult learners' success in community college
A recent study carried out at Holland College and Nova Scotia Community College compared the transition to community college for students who earned a General Educational Development (GED) credential versus students with a high school diploma. The study examined three areas:
- how learners with a GED performed in a community college program compared to those with a high school diploma;
- whether student performance was influenced by age, gender, or program type;
- and whether there was a difference in outcomes in Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia.
The full report may be downloaded here in .pdf format.
Thursday, 27 January, 2011
New(ish) book on the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation's legacy
Silver Donald Cameron recounts the legacy of the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation in his book A Million Futures: The Remarkable Legacy of the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation. Here's the publisher's description:
In 1998, hoping to leave a legacy for the new millennium, the federal government created the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation, which has since funded and empowered more than a million young Canadians. The Foundation itself has been a remarkable success story, a model of efficiency and political manoeuvring. The essential feature of the program was its innovative partnering with the provinces, recognizing different approaches to the issue - a stellar example of asymmetrical federalism.
A brilliant, funny and highly entertaining storyteller, Silver Donald Cameron tells the inside story of the Foundation’s life, which serves as a case study in astute management practice in the face of serious challenges. Woven into the narrative are the stories of individuals whose lives were affected by the Foundation’s programs. Inspiring, funny, heart-breaking and surprising, these tales form the heart of the book. A Million Futures is the definitive testament to a unique, ground-breaking and transformative institution, abounding with useful lessons for organizations of all kinds, and anyone interested in innovative public policy.
Wednesday, 26 January, 2011
Future dims for for-profit degree-granting sector
Back in 2008, it seemed that the for-profit on-line degree-granting sector in Canada was commercially viable and poised for some growth. In May of that year, the province of New Brunswick approved its fourth such institution, awarding degree-granting status to Meritus University, a subsidiary of Apollo Group Inc. Apollo is the parent company of the University of Phoenix, the largest private university in the United States.
More recent developments in New Brunswick provide cause to question the future prospects of for-profit on-line universities in Canada. It was only a few months ago that the New Brunswick government ordered the shutdown of Lansbridge University after its degree-granting authority was revoked over quality concerns. Yesterday, after only about two years in operation, Meritus University announced it would no longer accept students as of March due to concerns about enrollment.
Tuesday, 25 January, 2011
U.K. students predict most degrees will cost £9000
From BBC News:
A majority of universities in England will charge the maximum annual tuition fee of £9,000, predicts National Union of Students president, Aaron Porter.
Mr Porter says his "behind the scenes conversations" with universities suggest fees of £9,000 will be common.
But Universities UK chief executive, Nicola Dandridge, says it is too early to speculate on fee levels for 2012.
The NUS leader is also calling for financial compensation for students if courses are below standard.
After a stormy winter of student protests over fees and university cuts, the student union leader is now looking ahead to another wave of demonstrations.
Friday, 21 January, 2011
Increasing community college student success
The New York-based Community College Research Center has released a series of papers highlighting strategies for improving student success and rates of graduation. They are as follows:
Redesigning Community Colleges for Completion: Lessons from Research on High-Performance Organizations: This paper argues that in order to increase rates of student completion on a large scale, community colleges will have to make fundamental changes in the way they operate. Based on practices found to be effective among a broad range of high-performance organizations, the paper outlines practical steps community colleges can take to bring about continuous improvement in student learning and progression. The full paper is available on-line here. Read a summary version on-line here.
The Shapeless River: Does a Lack of Structure Inhibit Students' Progress at Community Colleges?: This paper examines the role of structure in influencing student persistence in community colleges. Evidence from behavioral economics and psychology on the importance of context in decision-making lends support for the idea that community college students are more likely to persist and succeed in programs with highly structured paths to completion. The full paper is available on-line here. Read a summary version on-line here.
Online Learning: Does It Help Low-Income and Underprepared Students?: This paper examines the research literature to determine the impact of online learning on the academic access, progression, and success of low-income and underprepared college students. Overall, the research evidence suggests that community college students are more likely to withdraw from online courses. The paper concludes with suggestions for improving access to online courses, as well as progression among online learners. The full paper is available on-line here. Read a summary version on-line here.
Thursday, 20 January, 2011
Work-integrated learning in PSE programs
A new report from the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario examines "work-integrated learning" at post-secondary institutions in Ontario. It identifies seven educational activities which integrate learning in a college or university setting with practical application in a workplace environment. These are apprenticeships, field experience, mandatory professional practice, co-operative education, internships, applied research projects, and service-learning.
The researchers relied on information from interviews with representatives of post-secondary institutions and businesses and organizations involved with work-integrated learning programs. They acknowledge that students are notably absent from this list of key informants.
The report covers pedagogical approaches to work-integrated learning, perceived benefits of programs which integrate work experiences, challenges related to the development and delivery of such programs, and the expansion, improvement, and promotion of work-integrated learning in post-secondary programs.
The full report may be downloaded here in .pdf format.
Wednesday, 19 January, 2011
For-profit institution growth alters U.S. PSE sector
From the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching:
Two of the most striking changes in higher education in the United States are reflected in the latest update of the Carnegie Classifications of Institutions of Higher Education, released today by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. There has been a dramatic increase in the number of private, for-profit institutions and an increase in the number of institutions whose instructional programs focus on professional fields like business, health, education and law.
“We see more institutions that offer a small set of professional programs, at both undergraduate and graduate levels, that tend to be less selective and non-residential. To a large extent, this trend has been triggered by the growth of the private, for-profit sector,” said Chun-Mei Zhao, who directs Carnegie’s Classifications. “This suggests that the higher education landscape is shifting further away from the traditional model of the liberal arts college.”
Compared to 2005, when the Classifications were last updated, there are 483 newly classified institutions in the 2010 Classifications (from a universe of 4,633). The majority of the new institutions—77 percent—are from the private for-profit sector. The growth in public institutions and private not-for-profit institutions has been minimal, accounting for only 4 percent and 19 percent of the newly classified institutions respectively.
Tuesday, 18 January, 2011
Borrowing & earnings of Maritime university grads
The Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission has released the results of a survey of students who completed their first degree at one of the universities in the Maritime provinces in 2007. The graduate survey was conducted in 2009 to examine graduates' educational experiences, what they did after graduation, and their transition to the workforce. The findings include the following borrowing and earnings figures:
- 73% had borrowed to finance their education;
- 56% had borrowed $30,000 or more;
- 33% had borrowed $45,000 or more;
- overall average earnings were $37,669; and
- average earnings of those employed full-time were $43,628.
Monday, 17 January, 2011
Student perceptions of university's financial returns
As reported by University World News, a recent study compared English, Czech, and Polish student perceptions of the financial returns to their university education and found the following:
Although the perceived rates of return varied by country and gender, it is clear that students see a definite pay-off to going to university, with the benefits being larger in the medium term than immediately after graduation. Interestingly, significantly more English students, who already pay tuition fees, perceived the returns to higher education to be greater than Czech and Polish students, where public university education is free of charge. This seems mainly because English students typically only spent three years at university, compared with five years in the Czech Republic and Poland.
Also, women in the Czech Republic and Poland expected lower rates of return and lower earnings than men while in England women mainly expected equal salaries to those of men.
Overall, students seem to expect positive returns to their higher education studies and perceive higher education to be a profitable investment. In fact, students seem to value a university degree at least as much as 10 years of post-secondary school labour market experience.
Sunday, 16 January, 2011
Talking about tuition fee increases
As in Nova Scotia, the future of Newfoundland and Labrador's post-secondary tuition fee policy is increasingly the subject of discussion. Of course, this is all very normal, needed, and intensely disliked by student leaders.
With the departure of Premier Danny Williams, the installation of a new President at Memorial University of Newfoundland, and the resignation of the President of the College of the North Atlantic, the province and the post-secondary system in Newfoundland and Labrador is under new management. Now, as we head toward provincial budget season, there are questions about whether the province will lift the long-standing tuition fee freeze which has been a key component of the governing Progressive Conservatives' populist post-secondary policy.
Fee freezes, and fee regulation in general, are the bane of many college and university leaders as they are seen as curtailing the autonomy and flexibility of post-secondary institutions. Moreover, since colleges and universities have very limited options for revenue generation, tuition fee freezes are highly problematic when governments funding does not keep up with post-secondary education's inflationary costs. These costs increase at a significantly faster rate than the Consumer Price Index (and other sectors) because post-secondary costs are mostly personnel-related and these costs (i.e., salaries and benefits) tend to increase faster.
While concern about the impact of any increase in tuition fees is justifiable, it is difficult to say what impact a fee increase would have on enrollment. There are studies which have shown that fee increases have no impact on enrollment behavior. Other research has shown that a $1000 increase in fees reduces enrollment by up to 6% and that a 10% increase in fees reduces enrollment by up to 3%. Then there are studies that show enrollment increasing in tandem with tuition fees.
On the whole, I would suggest that there is sufficient evidence that "large" tuition fee increases, like those in the order of $1000, put downward pressure on enrollment. There is also ample evidence to suggest that this pressure is disproportionately shouldered by individuals with lower income backgrounds and/or higher net costs (e.g., rural students, persons with disabilities). So in the absence of additional need-based financial assistance, large increases in fees are likely to curtail access for some.
Friday, 14 January, 2011
PSE transitions of Aboriginal people in Canada
The Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC) has released a comprehensive literature review of Aboriginal peoples' transitions to post-secondary education. The report points out, as I did in a series of public lectures in 2008, that action to address the challenges facing Aboriginal people in transitioning to post-secondary education is imperative and must be carried out in conjunction with Canada's diverse Aboriginal population. The full report, titled A Literature Review of Factors that Support Successful Transitions by Aboriginal People from K-12 to Post-Secondary Education, may be accessed here in .pdf format.
Thursday, 13 January, 2011
Graduates of the new learning environment
The latest article from our Transition Study has been published in the Quarterly Review of Distance Education. I produced this article, titled Graduates of the New Learning Environment: A Follow-Up Study of High School Distance e-Learners, with Dr. Dennis Sharpe and our research assistants Monique Bourgeois and Melanie Greene. The article abstract is as follows:
While web-based courses have had a growing presence in Canadian secondary schools since the mid-1990s, there has been very little study of the transition of high school distance e-learners to further study at the post-secondary level. To address this area of deficit in distance education research this article reports on a study designed to examine high school distance e-learners’ participation in post-secondary education as well as their perceptions of online learning following high school graduation. A short follow-up survey as well as in-depth interviews of students from the class of 2008, which included students who participated in distance e-learning courses in high school and others who did not, suggested that high school distance e-learners had a preference for university studies. While high school distance e-learners did not appear to be more likely to participate in online learning at the post secondary level, they described a number of ways in which their distance e-learning experiences in high school had helped them to prepare for post-secondary studies. Some of the implications for online learning at the secondary school level are discussed.We have also recently put together a short summary of some of our Transition Study findings in newsletter format. This summary can be accessed here on-line. Our earlier project updates are available here and here.
Wednesday, 12 January, 2011
Tuition fees & maritime student university choices
Tuition fees are the subject of some discussion in Nova Scotia this week. As the CBC News has reported, university students in that province could face a tuition fee increase next fall if the provincial government opts to end the on-going tuition fee freeze as was recommended in the recent Report on the University System in Nova Scotia. Students' out-of-pocket costs may climb higher still in the event that the Nova Scotia University Student Bursary program does not continue beyond the current academic year.
This debate is timely since, as I noted last week, we have recently completed a survey of Maritime students at Memorial University of Newfoundland to better understand why they chose to pursue university studies in Newfoundland and Labrador. Since Memorial University has the second lowest tuition fees in Canada, as a result of a long-standing tuition fee freeze, one of the questions we asked students was "On a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being 'not important at all' and 5 being 'very important' how important of a factor were tuition fees in your selection of Memorial University?".
In Figure 1 below, we have plotted the responses to the "tuition fee question" for students from each of the three Maritime provinces. In each case, tuition was a very influential with 80% or more of the students from each of the provinces giving it a 4/5 or 5/5.
While the overall average score on the tuition fee question was 4.18, there was also a significant difference between the responses of migrant students (4.35) and distance students (3.94), F(1,322) = 12.916, p = .002. Figure 2 below plots the responses for migrants (i.e., students who re-located their residence to Newfoundland and Labrador) from each of the three provinces. About 92% of the migrant students from PEI scored the influence of tuition fees at 4/5 or 5/5, followed by New Brunswickers (~91%), and Nova Scotians (~87%).
The plot below is for distance students (i.e., students who remained in their home province and and were completing studies via distance education). While their overall assessment of the importance of tuition fees is a bit lower, depending on the province 70%-80% of distance students scored the influence of tuition at either 4/5 or 5/5.
Tuesday, 11 January, 2011
Ireland unveils national higher education strategy
The Irish government has released a major report on post-secondary or third-level education as it is known in Ireland. The so-called "Hunt report" puts forward a 20-year strategy for development of the higher education sector.
A draft of the National Strategy for Higher Education to 2030 report was previously leaked and published on the website of The Irish Times newspaper, and has been roundly criticized in the lead up to its official release.
The report calls for major higher education funding reforms including the introduction of a "new form of direct student contribution based on an upfront fee with a deferred payment facility" and an accompanying student loan system. It also recommends alliances or mergers for many smaller institutions.
The full report may be downloaded here in .pdf format.
Monday, 10 January, 2011
British students may end academic education at 14
There's some radically reasonable thinking going on across the pond:
Students will be able to leave academic education at 14 in favour of vocational training at specialist colleges under coalition plans.
Up to 70 technical schools teaching practical skills could be opened before the next election, according to Lord Baker of Dorking, the former Tory education secretary who is heading the scheme.
Baker said the schools were not a small experiment but a movement designed to tackle a shortage of young people with vocational skills.
"If we are going to have high-speed rail, the fastest broadband in the world, new nuclear power stations, we are going to need technicians," he told the Times. "We simply don't have enough technically orientated people coming through."
Sunday, 9 January, 2011
Canadian universities face challenges in 2011
From University World News:
Canada's higher education sector this year will contend with granting councils diminished by their contributions to basic research but offering increased overtures to corporate-sector partnerships. Universities will push for a more flexible research environment to help develop bilateral agreements with university researchers in emerging countries such as India, Brazil and China while student debt, already hovering at an average of C$26,000 (US$26,130) per student, is on the rise.
Friday, 7 January, 2011
Factors driving Maritimers to Memorial University
Since the 1990s, the population of students from the Maritime provinces (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island) studying at Memorial University of Newfoundland has increased about tenfold.
The reasons for the large increase in Maritime student enrollment have been the subject of speculation. The Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission and a number of news stories have connected this enrollment trend to Memorial’s comparably lower tuition fees which are the second lowest in Canada after Quebec.
Last fall, a group of researchers at Memorial University (myself included), carried out a survey of our current Maritime students to provide a better understanding of the underlying reasons why individuals from the Maritime provinces are pursuing university studies in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The students we decided to survey included two groups: 1) Maritime Migrant Students - students who re-located their residence to Newfoundland and Labrador to pursue full-time on-campus studies and 2) Maritime Distance Students - students who remained in their home province and were completing their studies via distance education. Of the combined population of 449, we successfully surveyed 328 for a relatively healthy response rate of just over 73%.
Over the Winter Semester, I’ll regularly post some of the results of our survey here for public consumption and discussion. In the meantime, our research team will be working on the second stage of the study which consists of semi-structured interviews with a smaller sample of Maritimers. Since it is widely assumed that lower tuition costs have been driving the increased Maritime student enrollment, I’ll blog about our cost-related findings over the next few weeks.
One of our survey questions asked students to identify the most important influence on their decision to study at Memorial University. A plurality of the students surveyed (45.8%) identified total cost as their primary influence. Most of the students in Migrant group (52.1%) indicated that total cost was most influential, however, for students in the Distance group the most common influence was program availability (44.4%). There was a statically significant difference between the responses of Migrant students and Distance students, χ² (3, N= 325) = 17.557, p =.001). In the figure below, I provide a summary of the responses to this question for the total group surveyed as well as each of the sub-groups.
Thursday, 6 January, 2011
Labour market outcomes of PhD graduates
Statistics Canada has released a report on labour market outcomes of doctoral program graduates in Canada. The report draws on data from the National Graduates Survey and the Survey of Earned Doctorates. The key findings include the following:
- most PhD graduates found employment in the education sector;
- the median income of PhD graduates was $65,000 two years after graduation;
- graduates in humanities disciplines experienced higher rates of unemployment and part-time employment;
- two years after graduation 19% said they were overqualified for their current job and 30% said that the job they were in required less than a PhD qualification;
- about 27% of PhD graduates left the country after finishing their programs; and
- 24% of those who left for the U.S. returned to Canada within 2 years.
Medical journal calls autism study 'fraudulent'
From The Globe and Mail:
Dr. Andrew Wakefield, the-now disgraced British doctor who published studies linking vaccines with autism, committed an “elaborate fraud” by faking data, the British Medical Journal said on Wednesday.
The journal’s editors said it was not possible that Dr. Wakefield made a mistake but must have faked the data for his study, which convinced thousands of parents that vaccines are dangerous and which is blamed for continuing outbreaks of measles and mumps.
Wednesday, 5 January, 2011
Five myths about internationalization in PSE
In the winter 2011 issue of International Higher Education, a quarterly publication of the Center for International Higher Education at Boston College, Jane Knight, professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, outlines "Five Myths About Internationalization". In summary these are:
Foreign Students as Internationalization Agents: The presence of more international students on campus will not necessarily help internationalize the campus.
International Reputation as a Proxy for Quality: Internationalization does not always translate into improved quality or high standards, regardless of an institution's international reputation.
International Institutional Agreements: An institution's capacity for productive and sustainable partnerships ought not be measured by the number of international agreements, partnerships, memberships, etc., previously entered into.
International Accreditation: International accreditations from external agencies do "not speak to the scope, scale, or value of international activities related to teaching/learning, research, and service to society either through public engagement or private enterprise."
Global Branding: The goals of internationalization are not synonymous with those of international marketing campaigns designed to improve an institution's global brand or rankings.
Tuesday, 4 January, 2011
British university student unrest unresolved
From The New York Times:
Despite a growing wave of student protests in Britain over government plans to sharply raise university tuition fees that saw buildings occupied at campuses across the country, and battles in the streets between demonstrators and the police whose ferocity at one point even seemed to threaten the heir to the British throne, the year 2010 ended quietly, with students heading home for the holidays and university authorities once again in control of their premises.
Both houses of Parliament have now approved measures that allow the cap on tuition, currently set at £3,290, or $5,150, a year, to rise to £9,000 starting in 2012, at the same time as central government funding for university teaching in most subjects will be cut 80 percent. There would still be some government support for science, technology, medicine, nursing and “strategically important languages.” Government-funded loans to cover the fees would be available, to be repaid only after students graduate and are earning more than £21,000 a year.
But as students return to campuses this week, and with the details of the government’s plans still not due to emerge until next month, the dispute seems far from resolved.
Monday, 3 January, 2011
40th anniversary of The Open University
From The Guardian:
The Open University is celebrating the 40th anniversary of its first lecture to be broadcast on BBC television.
The groundbreaking transmission, which went on air on BBC2 on 3 January 1971, led to four decades of partnership between the university and the broadcaster, which has produced 7,000 television and 4,000 radio programmes.
The initial black-and-white broadcasts catered for the OU's first enrolment of 25,000 students taking courses in the arts, social sciences, science or maths. The lectures, which switched from late-night broadcasts to the early hours with the introduction of video recorders, have evolved into mainstream OU/BBC programming such as Coast and James May's Big Ideas.
Sunday, 2 January, 2011
High school distance e-learner participation in PSE
An article by me and my colleague Dr. Dennis Sharpe, titled Intention, Transition, Retention: Examining High School Distance E-Learners’ Participation in Post-Secondary Education, has been published in the Winter 2011 issue of the International Journal of Information and Communication Technology Education. The abstract:
Studies of student transition to post-secondary education have not examined the transition experiences of students who complete on-line courses as part of their high school curriculum. To address this area of deficit in on-line learning research, the authors discuss a multi-year study that examined high school on-line learners’ plans to participate in post-secondary education, their enrollment in post-secondary education, and their persistence in a post-secondary program. Data for these analyses were collected from student surveys as well as high school and university academic records. The results suggest that participation in on-line courses in high school is not a significant factor in the post-secondary education transition process while student academic achievement is consistently influential.
