Improving Aboriginal Access to Post-Secondary Education in Canada
Changing Course: Improving Aboriginal Access to Post-Secondary Education in Canada - a paper describing what the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation is doing to address this issue. Click here for the full paper (PDF - 8 pages)
The Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation is a private, independent organization created by an act of Parliament in 1998. The Foundation works to improve access to post-secondary education for Canadians from all backgrounds; it encourages a high level of achievement and engagement in Canadian society; and it brings people and organizations together to understand barriers and improve access to post-secondary education in Canada. Each year, the Foundation distributes $340 million in bursaries and scholarships to students across Canada.
The Research Program
The Millennium Research Program furthers the work of the Foundation by undertaking research and pilot projects aimed at understanding and reducing barriers to post-secondary education. It ensures that policymaking and public discussion about opportunities in higher education in Canada can be informed by the best available evidence.
Some findings from this paper ...
First Nations people do not feel welcome on university and college campuses. Only 20% agreed that jobs in First Nations communities do not require post-secondary education.
Among First Nations youth not planning to go on to college or university, financial barriers are most frequently cited as holding them back: 59% say they have to work to support their family while 40% say they do not have enough money.
When asked about why they are not planning on attending post-secondary education, only 27% say it is because they do not want to leave their communities; 25% because their grades are not good enough; 20% because they do not think they need post-secondary education; and 18% because they simply do not like school.
When those youth who are planning to go to post-secondary education are asked if anything might change their plans, 48% say it would be a lack of money, 43% say they may need to work to support their family and 42% say it would be because their grades are not good enough.
Three pilot projects that the foundation is sponsoring to develop strategies to address these issues include:
- “Making Education Work,” a comprehensive program of academic preparation and student and family support for students at selected Aboriginal high schools in Manitoba, to help ensure that these students are ready to make the step to post-secondary education should they choose to;
- The Millennium Aboriginal Access Bursary for first-year Aboriginal students in Saskatchewan, to help lower the costs of their first step into post-secondary education; and,
- “Le,nonet,” a program offering financial, academic and cultural support to Aboriginal students at the University of Victoria in British Columbia to ensure that those who do get to university have the best chance of succeeding.
A second paper ... Embracing Differences: Post-Secondary Education among Aboriginal Students, Students with Children and Students with Disabilities, prepared By: David Holmes in Ottawa for the The Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation is also available on-line (Click here to see this 93 page PDF document).
This report presents an overview of the state of Canadian post-secondary education for Aboriginal Peoples, people with disabilities and students with children. The report analyzes results from two 2002 surveys — the Canadian Undergraduate Student Survey and the Canadian College Student Survey — and places these data in social and historical context.