It is another year of extraordinary growth in applications to Ontario universities. As of January 11, 2007 – the deadline for submission of university applications – 79,568 secondary school students have applied for first-year admission to Ontario universities for fall 2007. This is an increase of 3,908 applicants or 5.2% over 2006.
This significant growth comes on top of major increases in applications in recent years, even after the double-cohort had been accommodated. This year’s applications represent an increase of 9.0% over 2005 levels and 11.7% over 2004.
The number of applicants exceeded projections, as they had in 2006 and 2005. This aspiration and commitment to university education is good for Ontario – university graduates contribute immensely to Ontario’s social and economic development, to the health and well-being of its citizens, and to its competitive position in the global knowledge economy. But the increased demand poses significant challenges for the university sector.
This positive trend in applications can be attributed in no small part to the province’s Reaching Higher plan, introduced in 2005 to enhance quality, accountability and accessibility in postsecondary education in Ontario. The Reaching Higher plan improved financial support for students and allocated $2.8 billion over 5 years in new funding to universities.
The province and the universities anticipated that the increased investment would fund quality improvements on campus, including improved student-faculty ratios to enhance the student experience. However, as documented in COU’s November paper, Progress Report: University Access, Accountability and Quality in the Reaching Higher Plan, higher-than-anticipated enrolments have constrained the universities’ capacity to make quality improvements.
The report showed that these enrolments, which this year are 14,000 higher than planned for in the Reaching Higher projections, have created a funding shortfall of about $100 million in 2006-07, a figure that will grow to at least $300 million annually by 2009-10. Funding these additional students requires new expenditure by the province – funds announced in the Reaching Higher plan for graduate enrolment expansion and quality improvement must not be diverted for this purpose.
Ontario universities want the 2007 applicants to have at least the same prospect of acceptance as previous years’ applicants, but need the province’s help in funding the unanticipated enrolment growth. The quality improvements sought by government and universities will be undermined without additional funding to meet the demands of additional students. In fact, universities are still waiting for the province to flow funding for the growth experienced in 2006-07.
This year, each Ontario university entered into a multi-year accountability agreement with the Minister of Training, College and Universities. The agreements bind the universities to substantial quality improvements on campus, improvements that will be at risk if the province does not commit new funds to meet the demands of additional students.
“Different universities are in different positions to respond to these enrolment pressures but all universities want to see these new applicants accommodated, without compromising the commitment to quality,” said Dr. Ian Clark, President of the Council of Ontario Universities. “We look forward to working with the government on these funding issues to ensure that the province’s success in improving access to quality postsecondary education can be sustained.”
Over the past decade, the universities and the Government of Ontario have done an extraordinary job of accommodating massive growth in demand for a university education. The current 2006-07 enrolment of 357,300 students represents an increase of over 40% since 2000-01.
Detailed institutional figures will be posted on the Ontario Universities’ Application Centre web site (www.ouac.on.ca) on January 17, 2007.
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For further information, contact:
Jamie Mackay Vice-President,
Policy and Analysis, COU
(416) 979-2165 ext. 209
