In the Canadian context, public universities comprise approximately 99% of higher education. Independent universities (private, not-for-profit) are an anomaly making-up less than 1% of higher education institutions; a 99-1 ratio. Christian universities and colleges in Canada make up most of the tiny 1% of private, independent institutions. In the USA it's different. The public state universities and community colleges (UCLA, U Texas, Ohio State) and private universities and colleges (Harvard, Stanford, Baylor, Notre Dame) comprise a 3-2 ratio (60% public, 40% private). This makes cross-border comparisons of higher education systems difficult if not impossible. For example, usually of the top twenty-five US universities annually ranked in the US News & World Report magazine, twenty-two are private. The three public universities are ranked in the twenties leaving nearly all of the very best ranked universities in the private, independent column. The US system of higher education is a mix of public and private institutions with a range of options across the board. A university is a university is a university, public or private. Not so in Canada.
In Canada, private (not-for-profit) universities are rare and receive an ambivalent embrace within the culture. It is curious that two nations evidence such an enormous difference in the role of private, independent institutions in each respective nation. Why is that? Why do private, independent universities in Canada struggle with basic access issues to higher education programs and support systems available only to public institutions when all parents of students pay the same taxes? Should Canada's future include a more intentional embrace of private, independent universities? What does such an embrace look like? Provincial governments have the responsibility and authority for the framework of higher education in each province. What adjustments must provincial governments make to add value to society through the resources that private, independent universities represent? In what ways might private, independent universities further bring added value and consumer choice to the citizens and residents of each province? These are not unimportant questions. As the cost of higher education rises and government funding for universities declines, provinces must wrestle with the questions raised above. Canada can no longer afford to give private, independent universities the same old, same old ambivalent embrace.
In Canada, private (not-for-profit) universities are rare and receive an ambivalent embrace within the culture. It is curious that two nations evidence such an enormous difference in the role of private, independent institutions in each respective nation. Why is that? Why do private, independent universities in Canada struggle with basic access issues to higher education programs and support systems available only to public institutions when all parents of students pay the same taxes? Should Canada's future include a more intentional embrace of private, independent universities? What does such an embrace look like? Provincial governments have the responsibility and authority for the framework of higher education in each province. What adjustments must provincial governments make to add value to society through the resources that private, independent universities represent? In what ways might private, independent universities further bring added value and consumer choice to the citizens and residents of each province? These are not unimportant questions. As the cost of higher education rises and government funding for universities declines, provinces must wrestle with the questions raised above. Canada can no longer afford to give private, independent universities the same old, same old ambivalent embrace.
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