College Demographics

Introduction

College Head Count

Headcount refers to the number of enrolled students at each college. The largest colleges in Ontario are in Toronto – the province’s largest city. However, the surrounding areas have seen a growing headcount as well. Conestoga College in Kitchener and Fanshawe College in London have also grown. The plot clarifies that Conestoga College has rapidly increased its headcount, doubling its headcount from just over 10,000 to nearly 22,500 students over ten years. Conestoga College is currently the third-largest college by headcount.

Programs Offered - 'Not Codable'

Colleges traditionally offer a wide range of programs but tend to focus on essential skills and technologies for maintaining and improving the infrastructure of modern society, such as electronics, nursing, mechanical technician, hair cutting, etc. However, colleges have expanded their offerings beyond the traditional trades into specialties like general business, geographical information systems, game development, media communications, etc.

Despite the diversity of courses, some patterns emerge from plotting the courses offered across Ontario colleges. Over 22,000 students between 2020-22 were listed as part of the “Not Codable” category. It’s unclear what this designation means. For a time, it was relatively common for larger colleges to make use of the designation. A third of Conestoga College’s students are categorized as “Not Codable.” (Note that ‘General Studies’ is a separate classification.) Aside from ‘Note Codable’ at Conestoga College, the most popular areas of study are business-related programs (marketing, international business, accounting), nursing-related, social work, and early childhood education.

Here’s a breakdown of which programs students are enrolled in at Conestoga College in 2021-2022 with more than 250 students enrolled.

Breakdown of programs students are in at Conestoga College (programs with greater than 250 students enrolled shown.)

Student enrollment without 'Not Codable'

Here’s the same enrollment plot as above but without the 'Not Codable' students. Without those students, Conestoga College is no longer the third largest college. It is unclear what this classification means or what kind of education these students are receiving.

Plot with 'Not Codable' student category removed. Note the effect on Conestoga College.

Student Demographics

The Ontario government releases enrollment data (https://data.ontario.ca/dataset/college-enrolment). We can use this data to see if there are any patterns in the international composition of the student body. Some caution is in order because it seems that some colleges may not have consistently collected data on nationality in the past (especially whether a student is Canadian.) Empty cells indicate missing information or that the college was not functioning then.

Table comparing enrollments of Canadian and Indian students in Ontario colleges in 2012-2013 and 2021-2022.

High Proportion of Students from India

An analysis of the nationalities of college students shows that Indian students have become the vast majority of international students in Ontario colleges. At many colleges, Indian students even outnumber Canadian students! In the table above, the colleges highlighted are those whose student population is over one-third Indian. We pay particular attention to these schools because they risk becoming diploma mills – supplying international students with diplomas but providing little intellectual rigor in return. This harms the student, who receives poor value for their money, and the host country, which gains little if the student eventually settles domestically. It also harms domestic students who take courses at the school and alumni who suffer from the poor reputation of their alma mater.

Cambrian, Canadore, Conestoga, Lambton, Loyalist, Northern, Sault, St. Clair, and St Lawrence colleges all have over one-third of Indian students.

Additional Questions

Quality of Education

Some may be tempted to argue that having many international students benefits not just the college's bottom line but also students gaining a world-class education. Others have questioned this wisdom. For example, Australia is currently undergoing a close look at the role of international students in its educational system (https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/jul/02/international-student-cap-labor-rmit-percentage). Even at their best universities there are fears that degrees are being awarded to those that lack a grasp of even basic English (https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/jul/30/australian-universities-accused-of-awarding-degrees-to-students-with-no-grasp-of-basic-english).

The data from the Ontario government shows that some provincial colleges, especially Conestoga College, have aggressively courted international students. The proportion of Indian students in many colleges is very high -- sometimes, over 1/3 of all students are from India. An open question is whether these schools provide clear value for money for students and the province they are supposed to serve. Indeed, the liberal use of the 'Not Codable' category concerning 1/3 of Conestoga College's student enrollment leaves one wondering what these students are studying and how this will benefit them or the province.

For those interested, you can find an examination of the wages of college employees here.