Atlantic universities boost out-of-province recruitment initiatives to offset dwindling demographics

Universities in Atlantic Canada are stepping up their recruitment strategies and becoming more competitive in anticipation of the plunge in the number of local high school graduates within the next decade. Acadia University has hired recruiters in Alberta and Ontario to speak directly to interested students in those provinces. The president of St. Francis Xavier University says schools need to focus on boosting their profile across Canada, not just in the Atlantic region. Newfoundland and Labrador's education minister says the province's tuition freeze and interest-free student loans give it a recruiting advantage over its regional competitors. Canadian Press