The Impact of Tuition Fees on University Access: Evidence from a Large-scale
Price Deregulation in Professional Programs
by Marc Frenette
Business and Labour Market Analysis Division
Analytical Studies Branch research paper series, No. 263
Context
Previous studies investigating the role of rising tuition fees in university
enrolment by socio-economic background have focused on the fee changes
registered among undergraduate programs over the 1990s. Over this period,
no changes in enrolment patterns were observed, possibly because the
tuition fee increases were small in absolute terms and gradual.
Objective
This study examines the impact of a very large and sudden deregulation
of tuition fees in Ontario professional programs in the late 1990s.
Findings
The findings suggest that enrolment patterns by socioeconomic background
changed substantially in Ontario, where tuition fees increases were
largest. Specifically, enrolment rose among Ontario students whose parents
held a graduate or professional degree. However, enrolment also rose
among Ontario students whose parents had no postsecondary qualifications.
The only group that saw a decline in enrolment consisted of Ontario
students whose parents had postsecondary qualifications below the graduate
or professional level. In provinces such as Quebec and British Columbia,
where tuition fees were frozen over the period, no changes in enrolment
patterns by socioeconomic background were registered.
Data Source: The National Graduates Survey of 1995
and 2000.
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