Early Supports for Accessing Postsecondary Education: Good, Bad or Indifferent?

Report calls for a focus on K-12 levels to imp​rove postsecondary access for underrepresented groups Not everyone will choose to pursue a university or college education. However, for the vast majority of those who do, the first step along that pathway begins with successfully completing high school. As a result, interventions to support at-risk and […]

Lifelong Learning in Ontario: Improved Options for Mid-career, Underserved Learners

Report calls on Ontario PSE institutions to introduce programs for displaced workers, adult learners As Ontario’s economy continues to undergo rapid change, the province’s colleges and universities will need to introduce new short-term, flexible training programs that cater to the needs of displaced workers and other adult learners, recommends a new report by the Higher […]

Postsecondary Education Metrics for the 21st Century

Time to introduce new postsecondary performance metrics, report argues Ontario’s postsecondary education system would be best served by a set of performance metrics that would measure, among other things, the skills students acquire during their studies, the link between programs and job success, and institutional financial performance, argues a new paper by the Higher Education […]

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Fiona Deller and Martin Hicks — Is postsecondary education the great equalizer?

In a paper we published earlier this year, we wrote that access to postsecondary education starts early in the educational pathway, and isn’t an equal race for everyone. We know that youth from low-income and first-generation backgrounds (those whose parents did not go to postsecondary) have a particularly difficult time getting in. But what happens […]

Parental Education and Postsecondary Attainment: Does the Apple Fall Far From the Tree?

First-generation students less likely to go to postsecondary, report finds A sizeable gap exists between the PSE completion rate of first-generation students and those whose parents attained a postsecondary credential, despite years of government policies meant to improve access for these and other underrepresented students, finds a new report by the Higher Education Quality Council […]

Redefining Access to Postsecondary Education

New approach needed to achieve equitable access to PSE, report argues A dramatic rise in enrolment at Ontario’s colleges and universities over the past two decades has done little to achieve equitable access for those students who have been traditionally underrepresented in higher education, argues a new report by the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario […]

HEQCO’s Program Evaluation Manual For Programs Related to Access and Retention

HEQCO’s Program Evaluation Manual For Programs Related to Access and Retention was written by Helen Tewolde and Jess McKeown. HEQCO’s Program Evaluation Manual For Programs Related to Access and Retention The Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO) is an agency of the Government of Ontario that advances evidence-based research for the continued improvement of […]

Opportunities and Challenges in Predictive Modelling for Student Retention

Use of predictive modelling to improve student retention growing Predictive modelling — the analysis of large data sets to predict future outcomes — remains a small but growing practice among higher education institutions as a means of identifying students who are at risk, and putting in place targeted interventions to improve student retention and success. […]

Education and Labour Market Impacts of the Future to Discover Project

Higher PSE participation rates yield ‘substantial’ effects on underrepresented students A long-running research study looking at ways to increase access to postsecondary education of underrepresented students found that enhanced career-education programs and promises of financial support made as early as high school boosted participation rates. And higher participation rates yielded substantial economic returns to the […]