Ontario universities lead the country in productivity, research output

TORONTO, Dec. 6, 2012 /CNW/ - The Council of Ontario Universities (COU) welcomes a new report that confirms that Ontario universities are the most productive in Canada.

According to The Productivity of the Ontario Public Postsecondary System by the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO), the province's universities are teaching and graduating more students with less money than all other provinces, and leading the country in research output. The report indicates that the universities are adaptive institutions, able to do more with less.

"During this period of fiscal restraint, Ontario universities continue to meet the needs of the growing number of students making their way to our campuses, while maintaining the same high level of education and groundbreaking research that have made our sector renowned," says Alastair Summerlee, Chair of COU and President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Guelph.

The report points out that Ontario universities receive the least operating dollars per full-time student in Canada, and confirms that funding has not kept pace with the increases in enrolments: from 2002-2003 to 2008-2009, enrolment increased almost seven times faster than the funding per student, in constant dollars. By comparison, the report indicates that colleges received substantially greater increases in operating dollars per student, while experiencing smaller enrolment increases.

"Ontario universities are committed to continuing to find efficiencies and make gains in productivity, so they can maximize public dollars for the teaching, research and services that benefit students," says Bonnie Patterson, COU President and CEO.

The HEQCO report confirms the research COU has conducted, outlined in the report Interprovincial Comparison of University Revenue.

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SOURCE: Council of Ontario Universities

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