What Postsecondary Institutions Should Know About Ontario's Mobile Learners

What Postsecondary Institutions Should Know About Ontario's Mobile Learners

In 2024, the federal government implemented several changes to Canada’s international student program, including a cap on student permits, adjustments to eligibility for post-graduation work permits, and restrictions on the ability to transfer between designated learning institutions. These policy updates posed immediate challenges for Ontario: a significant drop in enrolment for the province’s colleges and universities (which were disproportionately reliant on international students), as well as shortages of skilled workers for multiple sectors of the labour market. Addressing these two concerns—which have been exacerbated by tariff threats and border tensions—will require multi-faceted solutions.

As one way to stabilize postsecondary enrolment and develop a talented workforce, colleges and universities should increase their efforts to recruit and support prospective students who do not enter directly from high school.

Mobile learners: An untapped enrolment source

The education-to-employment journey is rarely linear; in fact, growing numbers of Ontarians are expressing interest in upskilling, retraining, transferring, and pursuing additional credentials. ONCAT (Ontario Council on Articulation and Transfer) works with postsecondary institutions to expand educational opportunities for “mobile learners”—a category that broadly includes people moving between postsecondary studies and work experiences, as well as students transferring between programs or institutions. This group presents a unique opportunity for institutions to attract and retain a new source of students.

Mobile learners, however, have not been accurately understood by many colleges and universities. While recruitment and retention strategies for high school students have been honed over decades, reaching non-direct-entry students—a heterogenous group—has proven difficult for some institutions. Moreover, mobile learners are regularly overlooked and underestimated due to inaccurate perceptions about their ability to successfully complete academic programs. In fact, when provided with adequate supports, non-direct entry students may outperform direct-entry students.

To better support mobile learners in Ontario, ONCAT partnered with Academica Group to conduct the annual University/College Applicant Study with more Ontario postsecondary institutions.

 

What’s the UCAS? The University/College Applicant Study is a national survey of applicants to Canadian postsecondary institutions conducted by Academica Group each year. It is one of several enrolment & recruitment studies conducted by Academica.

Thanks to ONCAT, Ontario PSE institutions were able to participate in the UCAS at no cost: A total of 13 public colleges/polytechnics and nine universities took part in 2024.

 

What can the UCAS tell us about mobile learners?

In 2024, the UCAS collected over 40,000 responses from individuals who applied to an Ontario postsecondary institution. A closer look at these individuals’ responses reveals some interesting findings:

Plenty of students had past postsecondary experience

Forty-eight percent of applicants had previous postsecondary experience. In other words, almost half of aspiring students were “mobile” and seeking to upgrade their skills or build new ones. This figure runs counter to conventional wisdom that postsecondary students primarily enter directly from high school. Plus, of this group, 51% had already earned a university degree and 31% had completed a college credential; just 15% were applying without having completed their previous program of study. In other words, mobile learners are motivated to build on their previous academic success by pursuing additional postsecondary experiences.

Mobile learners are often older than students without previous postsecondary experiences. On average, of course, you would expect that students with some record of postsecondary participation would be older than students without, but the degree of the age discrepancy may be surprising. Among all applicants, 54% were over 20 years old and one-third were older than 24. Mobile learners skewed much older: 63% were over 24 years old and 38% were over 30. While there is considerable overlap between students with previous postsecondary experience and “mature” students, the experiences they bring with them may be considerably different, along with the supports that they may require to succeed.

International students are much more likely to have previous postsecondary experience; they accounted for roughly half (57%) of all mobile students in the survey, despite comprising one-third of all respondents.

A look at transfer credit intent

Of the 48% of students with previous postsecondary experience, less than one-third (29%) indicated that they intend to seek transfer credits. This suggests that many students do not realize they may be eligible to earn transfer credits for their previous learning experiences. At ONCAT, we empower students to navigate Ontario’s postsecondary system with the use of the ONTransfer guide—an online resource that provides information about credit transfer and academic pathways at colleges, universities, and Indigenous Institutes across the province. Centralizing this information helps students understand and identify ways to leverage their previously earned credits to access different programs and pursue additional credentials.

Few international students are looking to transfer credits. Just 19% of international students with previous postsecondary experience are seeking transfer credits, compared to 42% of domestic students. Many international students may have been leveraging postsecondary study in Ontario as a route to citizenship. That perception may help contextualize UCAS data about international students, because eligibility for post-graduation work permits—which depends on program length—could be impacted if international students earned transfer credits for previous postsecondary experiences.

Why continue to pursue PSE?

Like their national counterparts, Ontario students are using postsecondary education to prepare for entry into, or advancement in, their career. This is true for both mobile learners and their direct-entry peers. More than half (60%) of applicants are looking for credentials to help them enter their chosen career and one-third hope to advance in their current job path. Forty-two percent of all applicants indicated that they intend to pursue graduate or professional postsecondary programs after completing their credential. Now, more than ever, colleges and universities should increase efforts to help students transition to the next stages of their journey.

How to better support mobile students

Our brief review of 2024 UCAS results highlights some areas for reflection and improvement. Ontario’s colleges and universities should carefully consider strategies for increasing their number of students who do not enter directly from high school and supporting them through their educational journeys. In doing so, postsecondary institutions will not only bolster their enrolment numbers and program viability, but also help Ontario develop the highly skilled workforce we need to ensure a more robust and resilient economic future.

There are several ways that postsecondary institutions can begin to help mobile students find their next educational opportunity and build on their previous postsecondary and workforce experiences. Here are some steps that ONCAT recommends:

  1. Expand recruitment strategies to consider prospective students who do not enter directly from high school.

  2. Provide information about transfer credit assessments with admissions offers (rather than waiting until a student enrols). Communicating details about course equivalencies, program requirements, and eligibility to participate in work-integrated learning allows students to make informed decisions about their education and career plans.

  3. Promote greater awareness of opportunities for Prior Learning and Assessment Recognition (PLAR) to help mobile learners expeditiously earn postsecondary credentials and (re-)enter the labour market. Additionally, institutions could expand access to PLAR by waiving application fees and reducing processing times.

  4. Develop and publicize multi-lateral agreements that provide more clarity and transparency for students navigating complex pathways through the postsecondary system.

  5. Provide mobile learners with specifically tailored supports to help them adapt to their new academic environment. For example, institutions could offer orientation programs, facilitate academic tutoring and counselling, and foster relationships with peers and supporters.

  6. Highlight the connectivity between academic programs and labour market outcomes; help mobile learners identify pathways that align with their career aspirations.

If you are interested in learning more about ONCAT and how we help Ontario’s public colleges, universities, and Indigenous institutes, visit our website using the button below. You can also contact ONCAT's Transfer Services staff to contribute your Ontario postsecondary institutions’ pathways to our ONTransfer.ca database.

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