For a province with the economic capacity and prosperity of Alberta, the current level of investment in post-secondary education remains inadequate.
There are a number of ways to measure the level of investment in post-secondary education, but it is important to be clear what each measure actually means about building the capacity of the system. The provincial government frequently quotes its spending per student. However, Alberta's low participation rate (the second lowest in Canada) makes the money spent per student look better in comparison to other provinces.
Statistics Canada and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) report on the total expenditure on post-secondary education as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP). By comparing spending to GDP, we can compare how much Alberta spends relative to its capacity to spend.
According to Statistics Canada, Alberta spent 1.45% of our provincial GDP on PSE in 1992/1993. In 2005/2006, this dropped to 0.83%. (source – CAUT, Canadian Almanac of PSE 2007, Figure 1.3) This is particularly troubling given that most industrialized countries are increasing their total spending relative to GDP: the average total spending on tertiary education in OECD countries was 1.4% in 2004 and in the United States was 2.9%. (OECD, Education at a Glance: 2007 - Table B2-1)
Quick facts about Alberta's investment in post-secondary:
- Following the 24% funding cuts of the 1990s, our post-secondary institutions have identified $1 billion in deferred maintenance costs. The current operating budget increase of 6% is not sufficient to address these concerns.
- In 2005-2006, Alberta spent only 0.83% of its GDP on post-secondary education, the lowest rate of any province and far below the national average of 1.07%. This marks a major decline from 1992/1993 levels, when Alberta spent 1.45% of its GDP on post-secondary education (still below the 1.54% nationwide average of the time).
- Alberta's total domestic expenditures on Research and Development (i.e. expenditures by government, universities and the private sector) made up 1.1% of the province's GDP in 2004, as compared to a national average of 2.0% and and OECD average of 2.3%.
- In 1994, 72.9% of the operating income for Alberta’s universities came from provincial grants. By 2004/2005, this had fallen to 58.3%.
- In 1994/1995, Alberta's universities relied on tuition and fees for 25.3% of their operating income. By 2004/2005, this number had risen to 32.8%.
Solutions to increase investment in education in Alberta:
Invest in education at levels rivaling the highest in North America by increasing the budget to at least 2% of Alberta’s GDP
Deliver on the promise to dedicate at least $3 billion to the Access to the Future Fund and $1.25 billion to the Heritage Scholarship Fund
Address the deferred maintenance of institutions
