In the preface to his book, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, John Maynard Keynes wrote: “The ideas which are expressed here…are extremely simple and should be obvious. The difficulty lies, not in the new ideas, but in escaping from the old ones, which ramify, for those brought up as most of us […]
Tag: System Design
System Design
Postsecondary sustainability demands cooperation , collaboration and alignment Ensuring that postsecondary institutions are sustainable and capable of providing a high quality academic experience is a fundamental responsibility of government and of institutional leaders , says a new report from the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO). Understanding the Sustainability of the Ontario Postsecondary System and […]
Data visualisation The differentiation of the Ontario university system: Critical pathways forward For more than six years , HEQCO has conducted research on the differentiation of Ontario’s public postsecondary system , where institutions build on and are accountable for their specific strengths , mandates and missions. A new report from the Higher Education Quality Council […]
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EduData – Ontario’s 20 Unique Universities
There’s good reason that Ontario is promoting differentiation in its higher education system. Differentiation – where institutions build on their specific strengths, mandates and missions – delivers real choice for students, better quality, and a system we can all afford to sustain and grow. Our visualization showcases the existing state of differentiation between Ontario’s 20 […]
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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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
In any policy initiative, it is important to distinguish between goals and strategies. Goals are things you are trying to achieve – the outcomes you are seeking. Strategies are processes and actions that can be employed to achieve these desired outcomes. Strategies are not ends in themselves. Rather, they are tools. Strategies have no inherent […]