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Category: Data

Student Debt Not Increasing Whatsoever (Shocker)

Hi all.  How’s the summer working out so far? I promised I would be back with a blog just as soon as the folks at the Canadian Undergraduate Survey Consortium (CUSC) published their triennial survey of graduating students, which is the most regular and arguably the best source of information we have on student debt.  Which they did on June 27, so here I am. (Why is CUSC the best source?  Well, the feds can’t publish such data because CSLP

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June 28, 2018 4 Comments

A Decline in Apprenticeships?

[the_ad id=”12709″] A few years ago, I made the observation that Canada’s big run-up in apprenticeship numbers was highly correlated with the commodity price super-cycle (in particular, the price of oil) and that an era of low energy/commodity prices might lead to a big decrease in demand for apprentices.  Time to check on that prediction. So, first thing to note is that apprentice numbers are down a bit over the last couple of years.  Probably not as much as expected if one

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June 14, 2018 1 Comment

In Tech, We are All Maritimers

I got a bit of blowback for Friday’s blog criticizing that U of T/Brock piece on the alleged Brain Drain.  Nobody tried to argue that my critique of the methodology was wrong, but some argued that a) data on migration is always terrible and I was making the perfect the enemy of the good and b) I was ignoring the core truth that a lot of Canadian tech talent does head south and this makes things difficult for Canadian tech firms, and

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May 7, 2018 1 Comment

Bad Data on Brain Drain

Periodically, in Canada, someone comes up with a statistic about higher education.  Doesn’t matter if it makes the least bit of sense – as long as it serves somebody’s political narrative.  This statistic can go ON and ON unchallenged for years unless someone steps on it quickly (and I should know: I came up with a doozy about a decade ago). Yesterday, one such statistic popped up and it’s so juicy you just know it’s going to used constantly even though

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May 4, 2018 No Comments

(Another) New Report on Skills

Late last week the Business Higher Education Roundtable published the results of a survey of its members (big Canadian businesses) on the issue of skills.  The results were…intriguing. Let’s start with the classic question: are there skills shortages?  Here’s what respondents said. Figure 1: To What Degree are Skill Shortages an Issue for your Sector/Company? Yes, there are skills shortages, but a) not many think they are that significant, and big business thinks they’re better insulated than other companies in

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April 10, 2018 1 Comment
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One Thought to Start Your Day is our founder and CEO Alex Usher’s popular daily blog, brimming with up-to-the-minute insights and informed opinions on today’s higher education industry.

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