Executive Summary:

Public Interest Alberta consulted widely with people in all regions of Alberta during their Reality Check tour on the province's post-secondary education system.
Through these consultations, Albertans offered a broad range of concerns and perspectives on the system's challenges and on the directions required to remedy problems and improve the system. Public Interest Alberta used these insights and suggestions as a key element to assemble a vision and plan for post-secondary education in this province.


A new vision for Alberta's post-secondary education system is urgently required. It must be founded on an absolute commitment to developing the full potential of every Albertan, and it must involve a substantial change in direction that is captured by a comprehensive plan. In order to bring about the necessary changes and to make a genuine difference, we need to start with four priorities:

Public investment levels in post-secondary education must rival the highest levels among North American jurisdictions. This investment will pay substantial returns in economic prosperity as well as in greater social well-being. Such sustained and predictable investments are necessary to allow institutions to engage in long-term financial planning, to increase research and innovation activity, to create a more affordable system for students, to fully deliver on institutional mandates, to provide first-rate facilities and technologies, and to expand the system to meet increasing demands for program spaces.

Alberta must put in place a comprehensive plan to ensure that all of the province's public post-secondary education institutions are able to attract and retain the best faculty, staff, and post-graduate students. Such a plan must effectively address human resources needs over both the short- and long-term, and government funding to the institutions must ensure appropriate resources and supports to hire permanent faculty and staff at levels sufficient to meet demands related to growing student enrolment, burgeoning innovation and research activity, and improving quality.

Alberta must expand the overall capacity of the system to accommodate the growing demands of students. This growth must be driven mainly by student choice for program spaces. The province should foster greater participation from underrepresented communities, partly through making more effective use of satellite campuses and distance learning where appropriate. Alberta must commit to ensuring that the post-secondary education system meets the highest standards of universal accessibility.

Alberta’s post-secondary education system must be genuinely open to all through the removal of financial barriers for every academic or career pathway. Tuition and associated fees must be the lowest in Canada by a substantial margin. Differential program fees should be eliminated, and public student financial assistance should emphasize grants rather than loans.

This paper is meant to provide a foundation for dialogue and a change in direction that will lead to a comprehensive plan for post-secondary education in Alberta. The key to ensuring that Alberta’s post-secondary education system will be among the world’s best––in access, quality, and affordability––is political will. Achieving the necessary political will is ultimately a task for all of us as Albertan citizens because, in a democratic society, we will eventually get the post-secondary education system that we demand, work for, and support with our province’s resources.