The Daily. Thursday, November 8, 2001

University enrolment

Women consolidated their hold as the majority of the undergraduate student population at universities in the 1999/2000 academic year.

Among the age group 18 to 24, women accounted for 57.1% of all full-time undergraduate university students in 1999/2000, up from 54.2% in 1992/93, the peak year for enrolment. They were the only group of students whose enrolment increased during this seven-year period.

In 1999/2000, an estimated total of 245,200 full-time undergraduates were women aged 18 to 24, up 9.8% from 1992/93. During this same period, however, the number of their male counterparts declined 2.6% to 184,000.

Universities enrolled a total of 719,900 undergraduate students, both full-time and part-time, in 1999/2000, up 1.7% from 1998/99 and the second consecutive annual increase. However, the 1999/2000 total was well short of the record 771,300 in 1992/93. Undergraduate enrolment declined for five consecutive years following this peak.

This five-year decline was due almost entirely to a sharp drop in enrolment among part-time undergraduate students, especially in older age groups, while enrolments in full-time undergraduate studies remained steady over this same period.

Women's participation rate rises among full-time undergraduates

In addition to the growing enrolment among Canadian women, their participation at the most common university age group (18- to-24-year-olds) has risen slightly since the 1992/93 academic year.

In 1999/2000, the participation rate of Canadian women aged 18 to 24 enrolled in full-time undergraduate studies-that is, the number enrolled as a percentage of the population of this age group-was 16.7%, up from 15.6% 1992/93. Over the same period, the participation rate for men 18 to 24 declined from 12.5% to 11.8%.

Among those 25 to 44, enrolments dropped over the seven-year period. In 1999/2000, an estimated 37,200 women in this group were enrolled in full-time undergraduate studies, down 5.6% from 1992/93. The rate of decline among Canadian men in the same age group was almost three times as strong in full-time undergraduate programs, down 17.6% to 33,400.

University enrolment

Older age groups turning away from part-time undergraduate studies

Declining part-time enrolment was most notable among students 25 to 44. While part-time undergraduate studies have traditionally attracted more women than men, both groups saw substantial declines during the seven-year period.

Part-time undergraduate enrolment among men 25 to 44 declined 29.1% to 42,300 in 1999/2000. Enrolment among women in this age group fell 30.3% to 73,900.

The declines were smaller among those aged 18 to 24. Among men in this age group, part-time undergraduate enrolment fell 8.2% to 29,400 in 1999/2000, and among women it declined 6.0% to 38,800.

Enrolments up in half the provinces

Enrolment in full-time studies, both undergraduate and graduate, rose at universities in five provinces from 1992/93 to 1999/2000.

The largest increase occurred in British Columbia, where the number of full-time students climbed 18.8% to 54,200 during the seven-year period. Full-time registrations also advanced in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario.

Enrolment in part-time undergraduate and graduate courses increased only in Alberta (+45.1%) and British Columbia (+17.9%) during the seven-year period. Universities in the other eight provinces saw double-digit declines in part-time enrolment, ranging from 11.0% to 42.2%.

Provincial enrolment

Note: Available on CANSIM in December: tables 580602, 580603, 580701 and 580702.

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Mongi Mouelhi (613-951-1537), Centre for Education Statistics. To obtain tables on enrolments, contact Shelley Crego (1-800-307-3382; 613-951-0737).