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Harvey P. Weingarten — Why is the “Q” word in our name?

Why did those who created this agency include the word quality in its name, even though it resulted in one of the clumsiest acronyms — HEQCO — on the face of the earth? I think it’s because they were smart and prescient. They understood that there are a million questions one could ask and research […]

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It’sNotAcademic – The podcast: Episode 10 with Gary McCluskie

Take a walk through university and college campuses and you may see ivy-covered buildings that hark back to a bygone era, while others have a more modernist bent. What do the buildings say about the place? More importantly, what are they telling students? As institutions grapple with ways of attracting and retaining students who are […]

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Access in Practice Preview: A Q&A with Michael Bourdukofsky, chief operations officer, Alaska Native Science & Engineering Program

On April 4 and 5, HEQCO will hold its annual conference. The theme this year is “Access in Practice: Putting great ideas to work” and will feature 88 speakers across 24 different sessions presenting their ideas on how best to increase access to and retention in higher education. As we approach the conference, we will […]

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Access in Practice Preview: A Q&A with Rebecca Rufo-Tepper, co-executive director of Institute of Play

On April 4 and 5, HEQCO will hold its annual conference. The theme this year is “Access in Practice: Putting great ideas to work” and will feature 88 speakers across 24 different sessions presenting their ideas on how best to increase access to and retention in higher education. As we approach the conference, we will […]

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Fiona Deller — A better way to help students who need it most

Ontario’s approach to increasing equity of access to postsecondary education (PSE) follows a certain structured if faulty logic: Identify students who are not going to college, university or into apprenticeships, and then create supports to help them access PSE and succeed once there. Sounds good, right? Sounds logical? Except there are (at least) two big […]

Food Insecurity and Educational Outcomes: A Focus on TDSB Students

Food security has positive effects on high school grades and enrolment in postsecondary education A new study published by the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO) has found that inadequate quantity and quality of food, also known as food insecurity, has significant impacts on both the academic success and postsecondary education participation of high […]

Helping Youth Pursue Education (HYPE): Exploring the Keys to Transformation in Postsecondary Access and Retention for Youth in Underserved Neighbourhoods

Centennial outreach program encourages underrepresented students to enrol in postsecondary Almost half of participants in a Centennial College outreach program to support Toronto-area marginalized and underrepresented students enrolled in a postsecondary program either at Centennial or elsewhere. However, the program participants fared worse when it came to academic performance, persistence and completion than non-participants, likely […]

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It’sNotAcademic – The podcast: Episode seven with Tim Fricker

Welcome to the latest episode of It’sNotAcademic: the podcast – education conversations from HEQCO. Enrolment rates at Canadian universities and colleges have gone up considerably over the past two decades. That’s the good news. But, for a whole host of reasons, not all students who enrol in a degree or diploma program successfully complete it. […]

Academic Advising: Measuring the Effects of “Proactive” Interventions on Student Outcomes

More Robust Student Outreach Could Reduce Drop-out Rates First-year students who received repeated emails encouraging them to participate in advising services — particularly in group advising sessions — were less likely to drop out, finds a new report published by the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO). The study was conducted by researchers at […]