harvey weingarten president higher education quality council of ontario

2

Harvey WeingartenPresidentHigher Education QualityCouncil of Ontario

HARVEY P. WEINGARTENPRESIDENT

HIGHER EDUCATION QUALITY COUNCIL OF ONTARIOJANUARY 26 2012

THE IMPORTANCE OF A ROBUST CREDIT TRANSFER

POLICY: NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL TRENDS

STUDENT PATHWAYS IN HIGHER EDUCATION CONFERENCE

TORONTO, SUTTON PLACE HOTEL

Informing the Future of Higher Education

4Informing the Future of Higher Education

THE WORLD HAS CHANGED!!

QUESTIONS• Why is a robust credit transfer policy

important?• How robust is Ontario’s current credit transfer

system?• What steps would improve Ontario’s credit

transfer system?


IS TRANSFER COST EFFECTIVE?


“Improved student mobility and post-secondary pathways will result in reduced costs for learners, institutions and governments…”

Transferability and Post-Secondary Pathways. Association of Canadian Community Colleges, April 2011.

COST SAVINGS OF TRANSFER TO STUDENT

• A modelling exercise to estimate impact of increasing the average amount of credit recognition from about 40% to 65%.– Average benefit to each student about $26,000.– Substantial annual benefit to Ontario economy and

GDP.


The Financial benefits of enhanced college credential and credit recognition in Ontario. Centre for Spatial Economics. Ontario, 2009.

CAN GOVERNMENTS SAVE MONEY WITH A BETTER TRANSFER CREDIT SYSTEM?

• University System of Ohio:In 2010-11, about 43,000 students transferred from less to more expensive institutions saving about $37M.Also, about 12,500 students transferred some credit taken in lower cost institutions to more expensive institutions, saving another about $9M.


YES!But it depends on how the postsecondary system is designed and the existence of lower cost programs and/or institutions!

OTHER BENEFITS OF A ROBUST CREDIT TRANSFER SYSTEM

• Fairness and equity.• Encourages the participation of lifelong

learners.• Effective strategy for increasing participation of

under-represented groups.• Minimizes the “embarrassment factor”.

– 2011 alliance between Colleges Ontario and the Institutes of Technology Ireland

• 2 years at a CAAT + 2 years at an IOTI = degree, in select programs.


ONTARIO’S CREDIT TRANSFER SYSTEM


ONTARIO’S CURRENT CREDIT TRANSFER SYSTEM

• 20% of CAAT applicants indicate a desire for degree preparation; 33% indicate that the degree is the ultimate credential sought.

• 9% of college graduates pursue university, the great majority stay in Ontario.

• 17% of college students have university experience. • Average transfer student receives about ½

university credit for a college credential.• York & Ryerson account for about 38% of all

transfers.


Student mobility between Ontario’s colleges and universities. Colleges Ontario, May 2009.

DRIVERS OF CHANGE• Low transfer rates compared to other provinces.• Desire to “bend the cost curve”, increase system

productivity and increase efficiency of operations.• Institutional aspirations coupled with institutional

financial sustainability imperatives.• Labour markets.• NOTE: If student dis-satisfaction was enough to

motivate change, we would have improved the system already.


WHAT INHIBITS THE DEVELOPMENT OF MORE ROBUST CREDIT TRANSFER?

• University’s “defence” of their academic standards.

• Degree of autonomy in Ontario’s university sector.

• Ambivalence in colleges. • Lack of funding incentives.• etc etc etc


STEPS FOR IMPROVEMENT• A renewed policy statement for colleges from government.• Aligning the transfer credit solution to differentiation and institutional

mandate agreements.• A focus on students, not on institutions.• Acknowledgement that transfer does not graduate inferior students. • Losing the “F” word [“fair”].• Consistency, disclosure, current and reliable information.• Recognition that institutions, not governments, set academic standards.• Start with the GTA.• Take lessons form the successes, not the failures.1

• The game changer – link to learning outcomes!


1 A. Boggs & D. Trick . Making college-university cooperation work. HEQCO, 2009.

THANKS FOR LISTENINGWWW.HEQCO.CA

Informing the Future of Higher Education

harvey weingarten president higher education quality council of ontario

Documents

better transfer credit

university credit

credit recognition

future of higher educationyes

average transfer student

cost savings of transfer

colleges ontario

system productivity