Report Outlines What Students Get From University Education

A new report from the Council of Ontario Universities is shedding light on learning outcomes in university and how they affect students and their futures.

Ensuring the Value of University Degrees in Ontario provides a guide to learning outcomes, explores the degree level expectations and explains the quality assurance process in Ontario.

“Across all academic programs, our faculty and staff are actively engaged in defining what students acquire at every degree level,” said Alastair Summerlee, Chair of the Council of Ontario Universities (COU) and President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Guelph.

“Our students are the beneficiaries of this commitment to quality assurance, which ensures that Ontario university degrees are respected locally and internationally by graduate schools and employers.”

The report states that, “Ontario university graduates are engines of innovation and growth in a globally competitive economy. Degree Level Expectations, learning outcomes and the Quality Assurance Framework assure taxpayers, policymakers and government of the excellent return on investment of a university education.”

Bonnie Patterson, COU President and CEO added that it’s important for the province to have detailed frameworks that describe degree credentials.

“Ontario’s quality assurance system is one of the strongest in the world. We have been quick to evolve in response to international trends and internal demands for mechanisms that protect the quality of our degrees and set out clearly the learning outcomes students will have achieved at graduation.”