Supporting Students, Strengthening The Economy

Ontario's highly skilled workforce is the key to the province's success in today's knowledge-based economy. It's estimated that over the next decade, seven out of every 10 new jobs created in Ontario will require postsecondary education or training.

To help more Ontarians get the knowledge, skills and training they need to succeed, the McGuinty government introduced Reaching Higher, an historic, $6.2-billion investment in postsecondary education. With these investments, operating grants to universities and colleges have increased by $1.7 billion, or about 63 per cent, since 2002-03.

The results:

MORE ONTARIANS PARTICIPATING
More Ontarians than ever before are getting the opportunity to pursue a college or university education. For example:

• One-hundred thousand more students are attending college or university today than in 2002-03 - a 25 per cent increase in enrolment.

• Postsecondary enrolment is growing five times faster than it did in the 1990s.

• Thirty-nine per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds are attending college or university today - up from 35 per cent in 2002-03.

• The number of graduate students at Ontario universities has increased by 48 per cent since 2002-03.

BETTER FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR STUDENTS

The government is making sure Ontario students have financial support to pursue a college or university education. For instance:

• One-hundred, sixty-eight thousand students are benefiting annually from improvements made to the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) in 2004-05, which include grants for students from low and middle-income families, a cap on student debt and support for students who need help to manage and repay their loans.

• The percentage of students unable to pay back their OSAP loans is decreasing. The Ontario Student Loan default rate declined to 8.4 per cent in 2008 - the lowest rate since the province began measuring the default rate in 1997, when it was 23.5 per cent.

• According to a recent report by the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation, Ontario is now providing record levels of grants to students, and Ontario institutions were found to be more generous than other Canadian institutions in providing need-based aid. This was attributed to Ontario government policies and investments in institutional aid.

• One in four, or about 120,000 students in Ontario, is receiving a non-repayable grant.

A REWARDING STUDENT EXPERIENCE

Ontario postsecondary students are satisfied with the quality of their learning experiences at college and university:

• Eighty per cent of university undergraduates rate their educational experience as good to excellent. Eighty-one per cent of undergraduates agree that, given the option to start again, they would choose the same university they are now attending.

• Seventy-eight per cent of college students are satisfied with their college experience, up from 75 per cent in 2003. Eighty-two per cent of college students are satisfied with the overall quality of their learning experiences in their given program of study.

HIGHER GRADUATION RATES

More access to postsecondary opportunities and improvements to students' learning experiences have led to higher rates of student success at colleges and universities:

• The percentage of undergraduate students completing university has increased to 78 per cent - up from 74 per cent in 2002-03.

• The percentage of students graduating from college has increased to 65 per cent - up from 57 per cent in 2002-03.

GRADUATES ARE GETTING GOOD JOBS QUICKLY

Students are getting the high-quality education they need to get good jobs and help Ontario compete in the knowledge economy - now and in the future:

• In 2005, 94 per cent of university graduates and 89 per cent of college graduates were employed within six months of graduating.

• In 2007, 96 per cent of university graduates were employed and 84 per cent were employed in careers related to their program of study.

• Eighty-eight per cent of college students are satisfied that their current studies are helping them to develop knowledge and skills that will be useful in their future careers.

TRAINING TOMORROW'S DOCTORS AND NURSES

Increased support for medical programs is helping Ontario train more doctors and nurses:

• More students in Ontario can attend medical school - 260 new first year medical school spaces will be created by 2010, a 38 per cent increase since 2004-05.

• New undergraduate medical campuses are being created in Kitchener-Waterloo, St. Catharines and Windsor.

• The number of first-year full-time nursing students increased by 20 per cent between 2005 and 2008.

Sources: Ministry Key Performance Indicator data; National Survey of Student Engagement, 2008; Council of Ontario Universities, 2005 Survey of Ontario University Graduates.