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Reaching out to Ontario’s youth.The benefits of post-secondary education are significant. Education can be used as a tool to reduce poverty and improve our economy. That is why ensuring that every deserving student has the opportunity to fulfill their full potential and access the education and training that will provide them with a brighter future is urgent and necessary.
However, barriers to post-secondary education (financial, cultural, social, geographic, and lack of information) are thought to arise early in students’ academic careers, long before they reach the age when post-secondary education becomes an option.
Look at the stats:
- Within the next 10 years, 70 per cent of jobs will require some form of post-secondary education or training
- For every dollar invested into Post-Secondary Education, there is a four dollar return into the economy
- In 2000, the total cost of education was roughly one third of median family income for Aboriginal households in Ontario
- In 2001 the average household income was 51 per cent higher where the primary income earner had a university degree
- Students with university educated parents were 3.5 times more likely to go on to university compared to students whose parents had a high school education
- Early outreach programs such as the Pathways to Education program of Regent Park have demonstrated dramatic results in improving the academic performance and future prospects of its participants
- The university participation rate in 2001 for 18 to 21-year olds from families from the highest income quartile is double that of those in the lowest income quartile
- For every ten per cent increase in parental income, Statistics Canada correlates a 2.5 per cent increase in probability of university attendance in 2000
- Nine per cent of Ontarians live more than 80 kilometres from a university, defined by Statistics Canada as beyond commuting distance of an institution. At a national level, the participation rate of this demographic is 11 per cent, compared to 23 per cent of their counterparts living within 40 kilometres of an institution
The Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) wants to make sure that every deserving student has the opportunity to attend post-secondary education and that Ontario is doing every thing it can to reduce barriers for at-risk and underrepresented youth.
That is why the OUSA member schools decided to engage their students in an unforgettable event: a simultaneous party at each school on January 24th to raise funds that will be donated to programs dedicated to improving access in each of our communities.
Reducing barriers. Creating a brighter future.
If you are interested in learning more about what OUSA has to say about access and the challenges facing students in this province, please visit the OUSA Research and Policy page on the OUSA Website.