After a BA, it's back to school
Anna Mehler Paperny
The Globe and Mail
November 17, 2009
The plan, after Rebecca Haggett graduated from Queen's University with a degree in psychology and an honours thesis under her belt, was to go on to grad school - maybe to get her MBA, or a Master's in psychology.
Instead, turned on to the program by word of mouth, she found herself drawn to Humber College's year-long human resources program.
"Knowing it would make me marketable and job-ready within a year ... at the time it just made sense and I was intrigued by the opportunity," she said. "I became in-demand and I was made marketable, as were my other colleagues."
Increasingly, students fresh off their university convocations are flocking to college programs, looking to beef up their undergraduate degrees with more practical, job-friendly credentials.
The number of university graduates entering college programs in Ontario almost doubled in seven years - from 5.8 per cent of all registrants in 2000 to 10.8 per cent in 2007.
A 2009 survey found mortarboard-toting university graduates with degrees in social science, humanities and business are most likely to pursue college programs afterward.
Thirteen per cent of the British Columbia Institute of Technology's incoming students have completed a bachelor's degree; the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology has seen its baccalaureate-accredited ranks grow from 5 per cent of entrants in 2002-03 to 6.9 per cent in 2008-09.
Alvina Cassiani, dean of Humber College's business school, calls it "reverse transfer:" Rather than go to college in the hope of moving on to pursue a university degree, university grads are seeking college programs that will prepare them for the real world.
"That point of entry, from a university to a college program, is not uncommon any longer," she said. "University graduates move from perhaps a generic degree, such as an arts degree in history or political science, and want a more focused learning experience so at the end of the day they [get] a job."
People's attitude toward colleges, and the role they play in higher education, has changed in recent years, she said.
"The idea of a college has, I think, evolved in the last decade because a college offers more than just apprenticeship programs: It does offer students an opportunity to build a career," she said.
"A degree is good to have because a degree shows you have the ability to learn and move within a company. But I think a diploma or a post-graduate certificate gives you those skill-sets that you don't learn, necessarily, in a university environment."
Many colleges now offer degree programs themselves - similar to the bachelor's degree students would get at university, but with a more practical bent that makes them even more attractive to the pragmatic job-seeker.
Queen's University career counsellor Jane Good is seeing more and more students come through her office considering college programs after grad. "I think it's great," she said. "It's one more avenue for people to take a very purposeful approach to building on learning they've already got."
Ms. Good said she knows students who jump right from work into the professional field of their choice, only to find they're missing key skills. Others choose a more practical college program over a Master's.
In response to growing demand for information on college programs, Queen's started hosting its own college fair a few years ago.
"There certainly is a growing number of programs and we want to ensure university students, Queen's students, are exposed to these."
Kathy Kinloch is dean of BCIT's school of health sciences, where 41 per cent of those students entering the program already have university degrees. Canada's health-care staffing crisis makes the job field more attractive, she said.
"If a student was looking at options and had an interest in health they would likely be guaranteed a career, you know, particularly at the job-entry level."
She said employers also have higher expectations of new recruits' practical experience.
"Employers do want and expect practical experience ... graduates who are really job-ready, who can lead and work effectively," she said, adding that students entering her programs with a broad degree in hand bring an appreciation for the analytical and theoretical aspects of their study that can be an asset in college.
The changing demographic also forces schools to adjust: If more of a program's students are more mature and have previous post-secondary education, they have different - often higher - expectations of what a college program should offer.
"We're starting to look at more flexibility in who we offer these programs to - a little bit more online learning, more flexibility in how programs can start," said Linda Franklin, CEO of Colleges Ontario.
"Frankly, that's going to be one of the challenges facing the whole post- secondary system: How do we make education at this level more accessible to folks who want to come back rather than coming directly from high school?"
After graduating from Humber, Ms. Haggett was able to use her degree as a springboard to create a business helping other people with their own professional aspirations: Launch Careers Canada provides career coaching at both the individual and corporate levels. She's still looking to pursue a Master's of Organizational Behaviour, but contends the experience she gleaned from her college program gave her what she needed to get into her field of choice.
"Within eight months of in-class, plus a four-month co-op, I became in demand. I was made marketable."