Competency-based Education: Driving the Skills-measurement Agenda

Rise of competency-based education could help bridge ‘skills gap’ With increased pressure on the postsecondary education system to prepare students for a changing workforce, competency-based education (CBE) is emerging as a promising model for preparing graduates to meet employer demands. A new report published by the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario, Competency-based Education: Driving the […]

The Sustainability of the Ontario Public Postsecondary System: Putting Together the Pieces of the Puzzle

Visit our sustainability page to read more of HEQCO’s research on this topic. Sustaining the quality of higher education goes beyond simply balancing the books As Ontario universities and colleges struggle to deal with rising expenses and stagnant revenues, academic quality risks being compromised, argues a new report by the Higher Education Quality Council of […]

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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 […]

University Sustainability: Expenditures

As labour costs grow faster than revenues, Ontario universities face sustainability challenges With no significant growth in student enrolment projected in coming years, Ontario universities face a future where labour costs outpace revenues. This may create a challenge for sustaining academic quality, according to a new report from the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario […]

Differentiation within the Ontario College System: Options and Opportunities

Degree granting distinctions are important, but regional factors are also driving differentiation among Ontario colleges In contrast to Ontario’s university sector, colleges in the province are difficult to cluster into groups as they tend to have individually defining characteristics based on local factors such as geography, demographic demand for programs/credentials and regional labour market needs, […]

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Harvey P. Weingarten — Undergraduate programs: Plus ça change…

I graduated from McGill University in 1974 with a B.Sc. in Honours Psychology. In a flight of fancy, I decided to see whether that program still exists and, if so, how the current program compares to the one I graduated from 43 years ago. These are the trips down memory lane one is increasingly inclined […]

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Amy Kaufman — Ontario colleges at 50: Vive la différence

In 1967, then Minister of Education Bill Davis launched a network of Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology. It was kind of a radical idea. He envisioned a set of comprehensive institutions that would offer a wide variety of programs focused on skill development through hands-on training. The colleges would provide flexible learning options — […]

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It’sNotAcademic – The podcast: Episode six with Hamish Coates

Welcome to the latest episode of It’sNotAcademic: the podcast – education conversations from HEQCO. Last month, HEQCO invited experts from across Canada and the world to take part in a two-day workshop examining a big question: “How do you assess qualiy in higher education?” One of the participants was Hamish Coates, professor of higher education […]

College Sustainability: Signal Data

Demographic shifts will pose enrollment challenges for Ontario college sector Demographic shifts over the next two decades pose enrollment challenges for Ontario’s public postsecondary sector , but the province’s colleges are particularly susceptible , according to a new report from the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO).In College Sustainability: Signal Data , HEQCO notes that the […]