Tag Archives: University

Ken Coates: Failing the ‘average’ Canadian

NATIONAL POST – Statistics Canada recently released new data on the narrowing earnings gap between high school graduates and those with a university bachelor’s degree. There’s nothing particularly new about this, but it adds to a mounting body of evidence showing that what Canadians have been led to believe about the cash value of a university education is, for a great many people, simply not true.

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Some students shouldn’t be at university

THERECORD.COM – For every three students in a Canadian university, one of them shouldn’t be there. That’s the idea behind What To Consider If You’re Considering University, the book that should be given to every Grade 10 student in the country.

This book is like a slap of cold water on a tired face. Written by Ken Coates, former dean of arts at University of Waterloo, and Bill Morrison, a retired professor who lives in British Columbia, it offers a much-needed wake-up call to all those teenagers who are going to university because they’ve got good marks, and because that’s what everyone else is doing.

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Coates & Morrison: Kathleen Wynne’s latest bad idea

A recent news release from the Government of Ontario, although re-stating old news, invited universities to “submit proposals for new or expanded campuses in under-served areas.” The goal: add 60,000 university spaces to the already large Ontario system to permit more students to study closer to home. This announcement is a one of two things: an early April Fools’ joke or an impending provincial election. Picking up from former Premier Dalton McGuinty, who never saw an educational commitment he did not like, Premier Kathleen Wynne appears determined to return to university inducements to boost the Liberal party’s electoral fortunes. These bribes, which is what they were — particularly the tuition rebates hastily announced mid-campaign — were costly vote-getters during the last election. The Liberals clearly believe they will work again.

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