University Rankings: Do Grad Students Not Count?

Today’s blog post is a bit of an opinion piece, so I apologize in advance for those not fond of blog naval lint. I was excited to have finally gotten my hands on a hard copy of Maclean’s 2010 University Rankings. My excitement was diminished, however, when I discovered that once again, a significant portion of Canada’s student population was virtually ignored- graduate students. The focus of the rankings, has, and continues to be, high school students and graduates seeking advice on choosing ‘the right university’. I feel very strongly that this focus should now shift to include those students considering the option of continuing on or returning to school to enroll in graduate programs. Indeed, as the number of students choosing to do so continues to increase, the needs of this burgeoning population beg to be addressed. Information that I myself would be interested in knowing include university rankings and student opinions with regards to such matters as access to and quality of various student services, including professional development initiatives, resource availability, funding for research, and opportunities for teaching. The only segment of the graduate student population that is singled out, is, interestingly enough, international students. Other than this mention, the views of graduate students are lumped together with the voices of undergraduates attending primarily Medical/Doctoral and Comprehensive Universities. In the meantime, I was quite pleased to see issues of gender over- and under-representation being addressed, as well as other concerns of great relevance to both current and potential students.

International Graduate Students in the U.S. and Canada

According to a news release, The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) reported yesterday that first-time international graduate student enrolment has increased by 3% from 2009 to 2010. Other findings from the report, Findings from the 2010 CGS International Graduate Admissions Survey, Phase III: Final Offers of Admissions and Enrollment, were as follows:

- Total enrolment rose only 1%, the smallest increase in four years.

- Most of the institutions that participated in both 2009 and 2010 reported an increase in first-time enrolment, with an average increase of 14%.

- China and India send the most graduate students to the U.S., but while the former noted a first-time enrolment increase of 20%, the latter noted a 3% decline.

- Education is the only ‘broad field’ that reported a decline in first-time enrolment (down 7%).

- Overall, there was a 5% growth at institutions granting the largest number of degrees to international students, while there was no increase at schools outside the 100 largest.

- Doctoral institutions saw first-time enrolment rise by 4%, while masters-focused institutions dropped 7%.

The report is based on the final phase of a three-part annual survey of international graduate student applications, admissions, and enrolment among CGS U.S. member institutions, and can be found here.

In Canada, increased efforts to recruit international graduate students - particularly PhD candidates, has been hotly contested recently. The Ontario government has announced that it will fund 75 new international scholarships, each worth $40,000 annually for four years. Starting in 2011-2012, the Ontario Trillium Scholarships will be divided among the province’s universities funded two-thirds by the government and one-third by the various schools. Earlier this year, the Ontario government announced its goal of increasing foreign enrolment in postsecondary institutions, currently at 38,000, by 50% in five years, and also introduced measures to fast-track graduate students into permanent resident status. As this article states, “But these 75 new spots are more about luring elite minds who might otherwise land prestigious places elsewhere, such as the United States.” The Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada has reported increases in foreign enrolment for fifteen consecutive years.

According to critics, the new program is insulting to students in the province, who already pay the highest fees in the country, as well as to taxpayers, who will be putting out $20 million of the $30 million project. Follow the debate here.

Graduate Education Happenings at Memorial

I have decided to make this a semi-regular blog post 'column', as there are lots of great things happening at my home institution with regards to graduate education.

This week, Memorial was honoured as the recipient of the CAGS/ETS Award for Excellence and Innovation in Graduate Admissions. Offered annually by the Canadian Association for Graduate Studies (CAGS) and Educational Testing Services (ETS), the award was presented yesterday at the CAGS Annual Conference in Toronto.

Earlier this week, 8 doctoral, 12 masters students and 2 undergraduates received $1,037,000 from the Research & Development Corporation (RDC), as recipients of the Ocean Industries Student Research Awards, to support ocean research over a three-year period. According to today.mun.ca, the awards range in value from $7,500 per year for undergraduate research to $20,000-$30,000 per year at the graduate level. The students’ research supervisors also receive a research allowance to support their supervisory work. The investment supports research in areas relevant to Newfoundland and Labrador’s ocean industries including offshore petroleum, ocean engineering, marine safety, fisheries and aquaculture and marine science. The students are enrolled in the Faculty of Science, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science and the School of Human Kinetics and Recreation at Memorial University. The awards are open to post-secondary students in Newfoundland and Labrador, across Canada and internationally, who are interested in pursuing their studies and conducting leading edge research in Newfoundland and Labrador.