What If There Were
No Federal
Department of
Education?
Higher education from
a Canadian perspective
Andrew Parkin and Noel Baldwin
SHEEO Annual Meeting
July 13, 2012
Outline
• What is CMEC?
– Canada’s decentralized education system
• Postsecondary education systems in Canada
– Key features
• Education attainment in Canada and the US
– Catch us if you can!
• Postsecondary policy challenges in Canada
– Always room for improvement
2
Council of Ministers of Education,
Canada (CMEC)
• CMEC is a Council composed of all provincial and territorial
ministers responsible for education and postsecondary
education (22 ministers in total).
• Founded in 1967, CMEC is the collective voice of Canada’s
ministers of education, serving as:
– a forum to discuss policy issues
– a mechanism through which to undertake activities,
projects, and initiatives in areas of mutual interest
– a means by which to consult and cooperate with national
education organizations and the federal government
– an instrument to represent the education interests of the
provinces and territories internationally
3
Why CMEC?
4
Education in Canada – A Provincial/
Territorial Responsibility
• Canada’s constitution gives exclusive jurisdiction over
education to the provinces and territories.
• There are 13 different education systems in Canada.
– There is no federal department of education and
no integrated national system of education.
• While there are significant differences in structure,
curriculum, and assessment practices and other policies
among the jurisdictions, there are a great many
similarities in the provincial and territorial education
systems across Canada.
5
Canada’s Education Systems
6
Reflections (#1)
“The findings…are both unexpected and interesting.”
Canada’s “educational attainments are strong.
Without national direction, the Canadian provinces
have fashioned similar education sectors support by
comparable levels of investments that record
commensurable achievements. The evidence
suggests that the absence of national standards has
not translated into ineffective or strikingly dissimilar
education sectors across the sub-national
jurisdictions.”
Jennifer Wallner, Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public
Policy, University of Regina (article in Publius: The Journal of
Federalism)
7
The Federal Role
• Intergovernmental transfers
– For postsecondary
education
– For “equalization” of
revenues
• Transfers to individuals and
institutions
– Student financial
assistance
– Research
– Income support
• Statistics Canada
– Canada’s national
statistics agency
• Other
– Labour market and skills
development
– Business innovation /
R&D
– International trade
(promotion of education)
8
Expenditure Per Elementary/
Secondary Student
160
% of national average, by groups
of 10 states / 2 provinces (“fifths”)
142
140
120
107
100
109
100
98 95
96
87
80
86
75
Canada
US
60
40
20
0
Top Fifth
Second
Fifth
Third Fifth
Fourth
Fifth
Bottom
Fifth
9
Postsecondary Education in
Canada: Basic Facts
• Number of provincially/territorially recognized and
authorized universities and colleges: 280 (approx.)
• Number of public postsecondary students in 2009-10:
o
o
o
o
o
Total: 1,905,516
Full-time university: 882,621
Full-time college: 510,435
Part-time university: 321,270
Part-time college: 191,187
• Numerous private career colleges (vocational
training)
10
Tuition, 2011-12 (US$)
United States
Canada
Private non-profit
four-year
$28,500
Public four-year
$5,264
Public four-year
in-state
$8,244
Public four-year
in-province*
$5,126
Public four-year
out-of-state
$20,770
Public four-year
out-of-province*
$5,848
32%
Public two-year
in-state
$2,963
Public two-year
college**
$2,538
$14,487
Private for-profit
college***
$15,486
30%
Private for-profit
college
*Estimates; two provinces charge modestly higher fees to out-of-province students
**Excludes Quebec, where tuition is zero
***2006-07 tuition data in 2011 dollars
Sources: The College Board, Trends in College Pricing 2011; Statistics Canada Tuition and Living Accommodation Costs Survey, 2011;12
Manitoba Council on Post-Secondary Education, 2007; Survey of Canadian Career College Students, 2008
Employment Trends by Educational
Attainment, 2008-2011
Less than
high school
High school
grad, some
PSE
PSE below
bachelor’s
degree
Bachelor’s
degree or
beyond
Change in
number of
employed
individuals
(%)
-14.5
-1.8
5.1
8.8
Change in the
employment
rate (%)
-9.1
-4.5
-2.3
-1.8
Source: Statistics Canada, Economic Downturn and Educational Attainment, Fact Sheet, June 2012.
13
Canada: A Top Performer in
Reading, Math and Science (PISA 2009)
Countries performing
significantly better than Canada
Countries performing as well as
Canada
Reading
Shanghai-China
Korea
Finland
Hong Kong-China
Singapore
New Zealand
Japan
Mathematics
Shanghai-China
Singapore
Hong Kong-China
Korea
Chinese Taipei
Finland
Liechtenstein
Switzerland
Japan
Netherlands
Macao-China
Science
Shanghai-China
Finland
Hong Kong-China
Singapore
Japan
Korea
New Zealand
Estonia
Australia
Netherlands
PISA = Programme for International Student Assessment
Percent
HS Drop-Out Rate: Halved over the
Past Two Decades
Source: Labour Force Survey; see CMEC press release, November 3, 2010: High-School Dropout Rates Fall
Dramatically.
The dropout rate is defined as the share of 20 to 24 year-olds who are not attending school and who have not
graduated from high school.
15
Reflections (#2)
• OECD: “Canada demonstrates, rather surprisingly, that
success can be achieved without a national strategy. This
observation runs counter to the instincts of many of those
who sit in policy seats and seek to effect changes, but the
fact is that Canada has achieved success on PISA across its
provinces despite a limited to non-existent federal role.”
• Maclean’s.ca: “Diversity in governance is another area of
strength for Canada…We are in fact the only developed
country without a national department of education. But this
is not an obstacle, as our performance proves. Provincial
control of education encourages experimentation and variety.”
16
The U.S.’s Goal
“…I ask every American to commit to at least one year or
more of higher education or career training. This can be
community college or a four-year school; vocational training or
an apprenticeship. But whatever the training may be, every
American will need to get more than a high school
diploma. And dropping out of high school is no longer an
option. It’s not just quitting on yourself, it’s quitting on your
country – and this country needs and values the talents of
every American. That is why we will provide the support
necessary for you to complete college and meet a new
goal: by 2020, America will once again have the highest
proportion of college graduates in the world.”
President Barack Obama
Address to Joint Session of Congress
February 24, 2009
17
Who’s The Target?
Top 12 OECD countries in percentage of the population
aged 25-34 that has attained postsecondary education
Korea
56%
Canada
Japan
New Zealand
Norway
Australia
United Kingdom
Age 25-34
Luxembourg
Age 25-64
Israel
France
 OECD average
Sweden
United States
41%
0%
10%
Source: OECD Education at a Glance 2011
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
19
The Secret to Our Success…(#1)
20
College (Non-University)
Attainment
Top 20 OECD countries in percentage of the population
aged 25-34 that has attained college education
Canada
Korea
Japan
Luxembourgh
Ireland
Belgium
France
New Zealand
Estonia
Israel
Spain
Slovenia
Chile
Australia
Greece
Denmark
Switzerland
United Kingdom
United States
Sweden
26%
College
University
9%
0%
10%
Source: OECD Education at a Glance 2011
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
21 70%
University Attainment
Top 20 OECD countries in percentage of the population
aged 25-34 that has attained university education
Norway
Korea
Netherlands
Denmark
Finland
United Kingdom
Australia
Poland
Sweden
Japan
United States
New Zealand
Switzerland
Canada
Israel
Iceland
Ireland
France
Spain
University
32%
College
30%
0%
10%
Source: OECD Education at a Glance 2011
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
22 70%
The Secret to Our Success…(#2)
24
Immigration and
Educational Attainment
United States
• Percentage of population that is
foreign born = 13%
• Regions of origin:
Canada
• Percentage of population that is
foreign born = 20%
• Regions of origin
o Latin America = 53%
o Latin America = 11%
o Asia = 28%
o Asia = 41%*
o Europe = 12%
o Europe = 37%
• 32% of immigrants age 25+ do
not have a high school diploma
32%
• 27% of immigrants
age 25+ have
a university degree
• 11% of immigrants
age 25+ from
30%
Latin America have a degree
• Second generation immigrants
do worse on PISA tests
• 12% of immigrants age 25-54 do
not have a high school diploma
• 34% of immigrants age 25-54
have a university degree**
• 40% of immigrants age 25-54
from Asia have a degree
• Second generation immigrants
do better on PISA tests
* 58% of recent immigrants
** 53% of recent immigrants
25
Sources: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2010; Statistics Canada 2006 Census.
Post-Secondary Participation among Second
Generation Immigrants to Canada by Age 21, by Region
of Origin, Versus Non-Immigrants
No PSE
100%
2%
4%
University
5%
7%
90%
Trade or College
12%
18%
20%
24%
28%
43%
38%
33%
34%
80%
70%
60%
57%
68%
82%
57%
42%
36%
82%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
36%
28%
16%
40%
45%
31%
13%
0%
Africa
Other Asia
China
Western or
Northern
Europe
Other East &
South-East
Asia
Anglosphere
Americas
(except USA)
Southern or Non-Immigrant
Eastern
Europe
Sources: Measuring the Effectiveness of Student Aid, Access to Post‐Secondary Education in Canada Among the Children of
Canadian Immigrants, 2009
Sample restricted to youth with both parents from the same region
26
Percentage of High School Students Who
Attend University by Income Group
70
63
60
50
Canada
45
46
40
30
32
38
24
24
20
United States
15
10
0
Bottom
income
quartile
2nd income
quartile
3rd income
quartile
Top income
quartile
Source: Marc Frenette, “Is Post-Secondary Access More Equitable In Canada or the United States?” (Ottawa:
Statistics Canada, 2005). See: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/050315/dq050315c-eng.htm
27
Policy Challenges in Canada
• Access for underrepresented groups
• Flexible delivery
• International student recruitment
• Advanced degrees and learning outcomes
• Data collection
• (Backdrop: Finances)
31
Access for Underrepresented Groups
Despite high participation overall, access gaps still exist:
• Higher-income students are 50% to 90% more likely to
attend university than lower-income students; even larger
gaps exist between students with and without parents with a
postsecondary credential
• Aboriginal students are nearly three times less likely to
obtain a university degree than non-Aboriginal students
• Rural students are 30% less likely to attend university than
urban students
• However, colleges have equitable or greater participation
among all of these underrepresented groups
32
Flexible Delivery
Changes in the labour market are leading to an increasing
number of non-traditional learners in postsecondary
education. Governments and postsecondary systems are
responding by:
• increasing opportunities for mature students to get support in
retraining;
• working within and between jurisdictions to reduce
unnecessary barriers to students transferring credit between
institutions;
• scaling up online, distance and open learning opportunities.
33
International Student Recruitment
In recognition of the benefits that international students
bring to Canada and the importance of globally conscious
citizens, provinces and territories have been working
together to identify areas for investment to achieve:
• a greater number of international students studying in Canada;
• an increased share for Canada of the international student
market;
• more opportunities for Canadian students to study abroad;
• a greater number of international students choosing to remain
in Canada as permanent residents after graduation;
• more global research linkages.
34
Advanced Degrees and
Learning Outcomes
As aging demography affects labour markets, the push to
increase Canada’s productivity and innovation has put the
outcomes of university and college education in the
spotlight:
• Canada graduates fewer master’s degrees and business
degrees per capita than the U.S.
• Skills shortages persist in some information and
communications technology occupations; a recent OECD
report recommended expanding program offerings that
integrate ICT with business and communications elements
• An increasing emphasis is being placed on measuring
student learning outcomes and student-assessment tools
that evaluate higher-order thinking skills, not just knowledge 35
of content
Data Collection
Canada trails many jurisdictions in the collection of data
on postsecondary education and student outcomes.
• Work is ongoing through the Canadian Education Statistics
Council, a partnership between the Statistics Canada and
CMEC.
• Priorities for improvement include better data on:
– student demographics;
– system funding;
– Aboriginal populations;
– student financial assistance;
– skills and labour market outcomes.
36
Some concluding thoughts
• Collaboration
• Modernization
• Globalization
37