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Canadians overwhelmingly believe that education and the post-secondary sector are critical for the future.
For individuals there is a firm belief in the importance—the growing importance—of post-secondary education. Overwhelmingly, a college or university education is seen to be more important than in the past. The majority of job openings will require such training and, indeed, a slim majority say that work-world success cannot be achieved without it.
Colleges and universities are also important for the society as a whole. Overwhelming majorities agree 'a highly skilled and educated workforce is the single most important thing Canada needs to ensure its economic future' and that 'Canada's economic future increasingly depends on the research and innovation that goes on in our colleges and universities.' These instrumental reasons for the importance of post-secondary education also lead respondents to want that sector to work closely with Canadian companies.
However, support for the post-secondary sector is not limited to its instrumental value—whether for the individual or society. There is also strong support for education for its own sake and for encouraging a range of personal values and social behaviours.
The most striking aspect of these responses is the underlying belief in the importance and breadth of education. It is strongly supported not for narrow or specific reasons, but rather from a basic commitment to the importance of education in all its forms. We do not have a public that supports one form or purpose to education at the expense of other objectives. At its most basic, the Canadian consensus says 'education is important,' both for the individual and for the broader society.
The approval of education as a good thing in itself and in serving practical goals does not mean that there are no serious issues. The importance of college or university education for the individual is consistent with the deep concern over access to post-secondary education. If education is the key to an individual's future, then barriers to access must raise basic questions about fairness.
The poll began with a general question 'how good a job are the universities and colleges and institutes of applied arts or technology in your province doing?' Overall, Canadians display a significant level of satisfaction with colleges and universities: 12% rate them as doing an 'excellent' job, a further 53% 'good,' 17% 'fair' and only 3% 'poor.'
The general satisfaction with colleges and universities is consistent across most of the demographic and socio-economic groups—neither family income nor education levels, nor the presence of a university in the community affected responses to this question.
Similarly, with the exception of the youngest respondents who had higher regard for the post-secondary sector, age of the respondents did not affect views.
There were, however, some differences by region. The regional responses are shown in Figure 1.
Fig. 1: Regional assessments of performance of province's universities and colleges
Turning to the performance of the sector in seven specific areas, respondents were asked to assess the sector in relation to:
The results for these areas are shown in Figure 2.
Fig. 2: Performance of colleges and universities by topic
This figure shows one clear leader: almost 80% of respondents think that universities and colleges do a 'good' or 'excellent' job of 'providing a high-quality education for students.' Their performance on other measures is also good—a majority of respondents give a 'good' or 'excellent' rating in each of the seven topics rated. Generally, the sector scores very well in areas related to its core functions of research and education. Ratings are somewhat lower in two less tangible areas: being open and accountable, and responding to community needs.
There is also a lower rating on one central function of the sector—ensuring qualified students are able to attend.
The responses to all of these questions are surprisingly consistent across demographic, regional groups. There are, however, two important exceptions.
First, Quebec is different. Quebecers are far more likely to give their post-secondary sector much higher ratings for accessibility, responsiveness and relevance. Whether the issue is ensuring access for qualified students, being open and accountable, responding to community needs, or providing job-relevant skills, the Quebec sector far outscores any other in the country. Quebecers are generally more positive in their overall assessment of the province's post-secondary sector, as Figure 1 shows, but when looking at the specific areas, it is only on the measures of access, responsiveness and serving the students' or regional needs that Quebecers are so different.
An intriguing group is part-time students, who are clearly more skeptical about the post-secondary sector than their full-time student colleagues. They differ particularly in their views about the accessibility of post-secondary education and the relevance of their education to the job market.
Post-secondary institutions affect individuals and the whole society, but they also have a real impact on their local communities. Particularly for smaller centres, the college or university may be a critical part of the cultural as well as educational life of the community. Solid majorities agree that the institutions make their communities a better place to work and live, and that they do a good job being involved in the community.
Table 1: Assessment of university and college's performance—provincial and local
Smaller communities' residents tend to give the colleges and universities higher ratings, while the largest cities give them somewhat lower marks.
The lesson from this table is the important role these institutions play in supporting local communities, being a resource for the local economy and serving local students. These create strong and supportive ties.
In considering access to post-secondary education, the poll confirms the sector's reach and its proximity for most Canadians. Table 2 shows the extensive presence of post-secondary institutions through their principal and satellite campuses.
Despite the physical proximity to colleges and universities for most people, there is still a majority view that access is not ensured. Only a minority (37%) agree, 'in your province, the vast majority of people who are qualified to go to college or university have the opportunity to do so.' In contrast, a majority (59%) think 'that there are many people who are qualified to go but don't have the opportunity to do so.'
Who then has less access to education?
When asked about the opportunity different types of students have to attend college or university, one group, qualified students from low-income families, stood out. More than three-quarters of Canadians (76%) said that these students had much less (35%) or somewhat less (41%) opportunity.
Canadians do not believe that personal finances should be a barrier to attending post-secondary institutions. An overwhelming majority (92%) either strongly (42%) or somewhat (50%) agreed 'we should not allow the price of a college or university education to keep students who are qualified and motivated from doing so.' Out of a battery of 23 statements tested, this was tied with one other statement for the strongest support.
The overall logic of the issue is clear. Access for qualified students is important and financial constraints should not keep students from attending post-secondary. There is a division as to whether almost all students do or do not have access to loans or financial aid to pay for their education. Finally, there is broad agreement (80%) that student debt is too onerous, implying that, while the education may be accessible for some through loans, the burden of those loans may be crippling.
Additionally, there is a significant correlation between belief that many qualified students cannot attend and low ratings for the post-secondary sector.
Why would issues of access drive overall assessments of the post-secondary sector?
Canadians have the joint belief that post-secondary education is very important, and that many qualified students do not have the opportunity to attend. In a culture that holds equality of opportunity as a basic principle, it should not be surprising that this disjuncture leads to concern
When we turn to the cost of getting an education, despite their lack of knowledge of the current financing of colleges and universities, respondents say that the governments should pay more of the costs and students less. Canadians say that governments should spend more (75%) rather than less (17%) on colleges and universities, and that the government gets good value for money (51% agree, 31% disagree) spent in that area.
Overall, there is substantial public concern to ensure that finances do not bar qualified students from pursuing post-secondary education. We also know that the cost of tuition and fees are somewhat over-estimated, particularly for those least able to afford them.
Finally, while there is awareness and some optimism about students being able to use student loans and financial assistance to pay for their education, there is nearly universal agreement that these loans leave students with debts that are too great.
Respondents were asked for their current evaluations of performance and priorities 'for universities and colleges to improve over the coming years.' They were asked to rank four areas for future improvement:
The first priority stands out very clearly: respondents want improved access so that more people who want to further their education can attend colleges or universities. A majority of all the respondents gave wider access as the first priority.
We can compare future priorities with the assessments of current performance by the post-secondary sector in analogous areas. Table 3 shows the percentage that gave a 'good' or 'excellent' rating to performance and then the percentage that gave similar topics as their first priority for improvement in the future.
This table confirms the importance of ensuring wider access and facilitating qualified students attendance. It also shows that quality classroom education is an area of real strength—the clear leader in assessments of current performance. It is good now and should not be allowed to deteriorate; however, it is not the top priority for the future.
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