The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a rapid and substantial increase in unemployment and to uncertainty about future job prospects. Despite this increased uncertainty, parents' expectations that their children will pursue postsecondary studies remained high during the lockdown--91.7% of children whose parents were surveyed in May or June 2020 were…

Knowledge and skills are increasingly important to innovation, productivity, economic growth and competitiveness. For Canada, a better educated population and a highly skilled workforce are vital to ensure successes in the face of growing global competition. Higher education can provide individuals with knowledge and skills needed to participate…

As the global marketplace becomes increasingly competitive and knowledge-driven the potential social and economic benefits of education have increased. As a result, the past few decades have witnessed an unprecedented expansion in the demand for post-secondary education (PSE) worldwide. The Canadian Council on Learning monograph series,…

In a period of student loan scandals and U.S. financial market instability impacting on the cost and availability of student loans, this paper looks at alternative models of higher education funding. In this context, it also considers the level of financial support that the government should provide to higher education.

The prospect of tuition fee increases for public sector universities has attracted an enormous amount of attention in recent years as governments in all industrialized countries have responded to the converging pressures of increased demands for higher education and rising costs of competing areas of social spending. I show that this dilemma is…