A New Audience for Post-secondary Education in Canada
- January 17, 2024
As we know, post-secondary education in Canada is facing a host of challenges that seem to be intensifying by the day.
Most institutions we speak with are bringing up the same two major areas of concern for this year: increased pressure on international student recruitment and mounting funding constraints. The international student expansion that so many institutions have come to rely on is threatened by new rules coming from both provincial and federal governments. Further, institutional government is flat or declining in real terms, not keeping pace with inflationary pressures on resources and operations.
Both of these issues must be addressed and are rightfully receiving the attention and corresponding strategies needed to fix them. At the same time, faced with these mounting issues, Canadian universities and colleges are looking for new ways to innovate and grow. We are encouraging university and college leaders to consider a third option – working learners.
Prioritizing a new audience
These career-oriented working professionals are seeking skills-based education to progress in their chosen fields. Whether upskilling for career advancement, entering a new industry or reskilling for a career change, this audience has high expectations for the quality of their learning experience and support received along the way. HolonIQ expects that by 2040, only 59% of lifetime learning will take place before the age of 20 (down from 81% in 2018). This means that we will continue to see enrolment expansion from this group as more working adults return to education and training.
In the Canadian post-secondary space, working learners have traditionally been served through schools of Continuing Education or Professional Development rather than faculties. These schools can respond quickly to labour market needs (most offerings do not require Senate approval) and promote new credentials to their existing networks of local students and employers looking to upskill their teams. However, limiting your institution’s programming to in-person and not-for-credit offerings is missing the rest of the market.
Program Design for working learners
When we work with institutions, we recommend designing programs that are purposefully built for this audience. Whether modifying an existing on-campus program or creating a new program, working learners expect offerings that are:
- Flexible – CDLRA’s latest National Report highlights that 77% of professional students in Canada want Fully Online or Hybrid programs. For an audience that has work and family commitments, creating online and hybrid models that align with their busy schedules is essential. As an example, Dalhousie University’s BSW and MSW programs are offered through online distance delivery, allowing students to study in their home community with the ability to continue to work and participate in family and community life.
- Interdisciplinary – Working learners are seeking the wide range of skills that employers are looking for in order to excel in multiple aspects of their jobs. This diverse knowledge can be found across several disciplines at the institution. The Online Master of Engineering Management from two faculties at the University of Ottawa is a great example of this.
- Stackable – As working learners prioritize more lifelong learning, they seek out programs that adapt to their career timelines and have recognition from employers and industry. Offering stackable, for-credit offerings that ladder into a degree or diploma allows for students to enter and exit your program on their terms. The University of Calgary has done a terrific job of designing a laddered pathway for nurses to complete certificate programs first on their path to a MN.
Taking a leadership position
There is an opportunity for Canadian universities and colleges to embrace working learners and make intentional investments into technology-enabled, for-credit offerings that cater to this audience. Most Canadian institutions know the importance of using innovative technology in their programs, yet only 46% of them feel they have the funding and resources to get there. The expansion of online programming reflects a willingness to meet the evolving needs of students, remove barriers and leverage technology to enhance the student experience.
Right now, the market is filled with a number of US, UK and Australian institutions investing heavily into promoting their online programs to working learners right here in Canada, presenting a prime market opportunity for our institutions to engage the students across the country from recognizable. A leadership position to win in this market requires some clear prioritization and alignment of your budget model incentives, resource plans and internal processes to allow for more innovative program design catered to this audience.
If your institution is looking to expand enrolment, build out more workforce-ready programming and diversify revenue sources, look to the working learner audience.