By . If you pay attention to the train wreck that is higher education policy in the UK, you will no doubt quickly come across claims that “marketization” is to blame. Skyrocketing vice-chancellor’s (i.e. President’s) salaries? Marketization at work. Student Mental Health pressure? Also marketization. More...
“Consulting and Advising”, Ottawa-style
By . I received a note from someone in a federal ministry in Ottawa a couple of weeks ago. It asked, would I be interested in having dinner with Minister (name withheld)? You know, look into new policy initiatives, want to talk to a few experts, break bread together etc. More...
BC’s Misguided New Student Loan Interest Policy
By . Last week, the Government of British Columbia became the first province to submit a budget for 2019-2020. The province’s finances are in exceedingly good shape, with a surplus of over $1.5 billion (though the government is hiding most of that using various tricks like contingency funds, forecast allowances, etc). More...
How Equitable Can We Get?
By . Last month, the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO) published a paper entitled “Redefining Access to Postsecondary Education”. It raises a number of interesting questions about access in Ontario (which apply to Canada generally), so it’s worth examination. More...
Building a Nation of Innovators
By . OK, so I was going to share with you some interesting research from Europe and elsewhere on Individual Learning Accounts, which everyone in Ottawa seems to think are going to be A Big Deal in the upcoming budget. More...
The Four Logics of International Student Mobility
By . One of the significant challenges in analyzing policies around international student mobility is that there are multiple competing logics at work within the field. More...
Rationing Loans
By . While student loans are cheaper (and hence more commonly used) than grants, they still cost money, both in terms of interest subsidies and in terms of loan losses through loan defaults. More...
Straight Dope on Learning Accounts
By . So, le tout Ottawa now seems convinced, given that a) the March budget is allegedly about skills (for the middle class, you know), b) the feds mostly handed the skills portfolio over to the provinces years ago that Individual Learning Accounts (ILAs), are definitely On The Agenda. More...
Costing Loans
By . One of the weirder sub-fields of student loan policy concerns how loans are accounted for in national budgets and statistics. This sounds like an abstract consideration, but in fact it has the potential to drive student aid and access policy in some very unexpected directions. More...
Why are there few online programs in Canada’s Far North?
