Degrees offer value and opportunity

This letter to the editor was published in the Globe and Mail on November 6, 2012

By Christine Tausig Ford,
Vice-president and Chief Operating Officer,
Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada

Gwyn Morgan incorrectly argues that two in five Canadian university graduates are employed in low-skill jobs. The OECD report to which he refers is about the entry-level positions for all graduates from postsecondary education in Canada. More than three out of four of these positions are filled by those with trade, community college and CEGEP diplomas or certificates, not university graduates.

From 1990 to 2011, the number of jobs filled by university grads in Canada more than doubled (from 1.9 million to 4.5 million), while the growth in jobs in the skilled trades grew by less than a third. Professional and management jobs grew by 1.7 million during this time; 1.4 million of them were filled by university grads. And census figures reveal that those with BAs across a wide array of disciplines enjoy a significant income premium.

Canadians know they’re still getting great value and even greater opportunities with their university degrees.