Source: Colleges Ontario News Release via Academica | January 20, 2014
Preliminary data released yesterday show Ontario college enrolments are at their highest levels ever, with a nearly 5% increase in first-year, full-time programs over last year. Enrolment in first-year programs has increased to over 125,000 students, with more than 220,000 students enrolled in all programs. “This is a strong indicator of the appetite that exists for the career-focused programs at the colleges,” said Linda Franklin, the president and CEO of Colleges Ontario. Ontario’s universities are also experiencing strong application numbers, although the number of secondary student applications has dipped slightly, to 89,272 from 92,554 last year. However, the number of non-high school applicants has increased drastically, by 10.5% over last year, and 35% since 2004. Ontario announced last week a new transfer database to make it easier for students transferring among Ontario’s colleges and universities.
TCS Insights: The province of Ontario is expanding as a centre for higher learning in Canada. Colleges offering programs aimed to get students into the workplace are experiencing record popularity while mature students returning to school are applying to universities more than before. Through making the process of transferring credits between institutions easier, students are less likely to be restricted to studying in only one part of the province.