Ontario's PSE system must boost productivity to maintain quality, report argues

While Ontario's PSE schools are already quite productive, constrained resources and rising demand mean the system must boost productivity to maintain quality, observes a preliminary report by the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario. While the province's universities have received increased absolute levels of funding and funding per student since 2002, they are teaching more students per full-time faculty member with less funding per student than all other Canadian provinces, the report notes. Ontario universities also lead Canada in research profile and output. HEQCO states the information available for colleges does not generally allow for inter-provincial comparisons, but Ontario colleges are now teaching and graduating more students per faculty member with more funding per student than they were a decade ago. In research competitions targeting the college sector, Ontario gets a level of funding proportionate to the province's share of the population. HEQCO notes that further critical information is needed to better assess productivity and determine the most promising methods for improvement, such as measurement of the quality of education, better information on graduation rates, and more input from employers on their satisfaction with PSE graduates' knowledge and skill sets. Summary | Report