December 2nd, 2019
TORONTO, ON – The Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) is pleased to release the third of three reports sharing the results of its biennial Ontario Post-Secondary Student Survey (OPSSS), which received over 8,000 undergraduate and professional student responses across OUSA’s eight member schools. The reports cover the accessibility, affordability, and quality of post-secondary education in Ontario and are based on the results of the 2017 OPSSS.
The third and final report, Quality: Results from the 2017 Ontario Post-Secondary Student Survey, highlights the quality of post-secondary education as a policy priority for students from OUSA member institutions. It discusses the quality of teaching, learning, online courses, experiential learning, and course evaluations, as well as students’ overall experience at some of Ontario’s post-secondary institutions.
Survey results indicate that students want more employment opportunities and support services, as well as improved teaching quality and campus infrastructure. Enrolment in online courses was common, and students were generally satisfied with these experiences; most said they would take another online course, though many said they preferred a classroom environment where they could interact with others in person.
“Students really care about the quality of their post-secondary education,” said Eddy Avila, OUSA Executive Director. “This data also shows us that the quality of support services students receive on campus is important to their overall educational experience.”
Survey results also indicate that more than half of students feel their course evaluations are not valued by their institutions, and that almost two-thirds of international students were not satisfied with their health plans. Further, less than one-third of respondents felt that their institution’s municipality actively engaged with students on municipal issues.
“Students are concerned about the lack of employment opportunities on their campuses,” said Ryan Tishcoff, OUSA Research & Policy Analyst. “Experiential learning helps students develop into well-rounded professionals, and we need to do more to increase access to these opportunities.”
The OPSSS provides important insight into the concerns students have and are important to inform systemic change efforts. OUSA will continue to collect and use this data to inform our policy and advocacy efforts and we encourage all post-secondary stakeholders to look to the OPSSS and other similar data to better understand student needs and concerns.
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OUSA represents the interests of 150,000 professional and undergraduate, full-time and part-time university students at eight student associations across Ontario. Our vision is for an accessible, affordable, accountable, and high quality post-secondary education in Ontario.
Crystal Mak
Operations & Communications Coordinator
Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance
416-341-9948