Executive Summary
- Despite complaints from the academic community about “under funding” of Canadian universities, Canada continues to outspend the 29 OECD countries as a percent of GDP.
- In fact, Canadian universities are producing more graduates than ever before.
- Nevertheless, there are still very high attrition rates in many universities.
- To improve the performances of universities, three policy changes are recommended.
- First, universities must use standardized literacy and numeracy tests as part of their admission requirements.
- Second, students should not pay high tuition fees for learning remedial skills. Thus, fees for many first year courses should be lower than fees for second and third year courses.
- Finally, provincial governments should use incentive-based grants so that more money goes to universities that graduate higher percentages of the students they enrol in first year.
View 5 page backgrounder in pdf format –
What can be Done About the “Under-Funding” of Canadian Universities?
