Ontario’s PhD Graduates from 2009 Where are they now? You might have heard that getting a PhD isn’t worth it, that job opportunities for graduates are scarce – even after 23+ total years in school. Is it true? We checked in on the 2009 class of PhDs from Ontario universities. There were 2,310 graduates. They […]
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Nicholas Dion – An ode to options
After months of planning, HEQCO’s annual conference has come and gone once again. This year’s event set out with a particularly ambitious mission: to bring together individuals with stakes in different parts of the lifelong learning process. The target: to discuss issues of common concern, to break down the invisible barriers that all too often […]
Learning outcomes assessment is no longer a sad substitute standing on the sidelines hoping for a chance to play when the game is out of reach. It is now a key member of the starting line up. Today, you can see its footprint in virtually every space of the education sector, from the rarefied heights […]
Free tuition is not a political slogan. It is an important new program that will increase access to higher education for low-income and marginalized Ontarians. Now that we are finally ready to deploy it, let’s please not immediately politicize it away. A long time ago, back before 1991, Ontario’s student assistance program, OSAP, was pretty […]
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Greg Moran – No change for no change’s sake
One of the benefits of working at HEQCO (and let’s face it, there are many) is that staying abreast of postsecondary education literature is part of the job. Although the volume can be overwhelming, much of this writing is provocative and helpful. Occasionally I run across something that simply provokes. In a recent opinion piece […]
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Alex Rappaport – Please don’t stop the music
Until a child turns 5 or 6, much of his or her learning happens through nursery rhymes and songs. One reason is that the human brain is effectively a sponge for music, meter and rhyme. Some studies even suggest that music was the foundation for language itself. Why then does music all but disappear from […]
In last Thursday’s budget, the Ontario government announced significant changes to the way student financial aid will be packaged to encourage greater participation of students from low income families. These changes come after years of research from HEQCO, and other organizations, about the inhibitory effects of a high tuition sticker price and loan aversion on […]
There is a door in my house – maybe you have one of these too – that cannot be painted. In recent renovations, I had to explain to the workmen that the data on the door is too valuable and must be preserved. You may have guessed that the door in question is where we’ve […]
To say that the modern world moves at a rapid pace is reductive, if not a bit clichéd. Technology evolves almost by the day, leaving even the savviest techno connoisseur wondering if they really need another version of the same telephone. We race to keep up and then wait breathlessly for the next goal line […]