Preparing for Post-Secondary Education: New Roles for Governments and Families

Most Canadian parents have had to assume a larger share of the financial costs of their children's post-secondary education because of declining government funding and changing loans and bursary programs. Preparing for Post-Secondary Education considers the impact of increased private support and the planning strategies parents use based on information from a 1999 Statistics Canada national survey of 34,000 households. The contributors begin by examining changes to national and international educational funding policies and the relationship between public and private costs. They focus on the role of families in marshaling the necessary resources, demonstrating that access to post-secondary education is also determined by social capital. The authors conclude that new partnerships between parents, the state, and schools are redefining the various players' roles and commitments to the educational futures of Canadian children. Contributors include the late Stephen Bell (York University), Scott Davies (McMaster University), Ross Finnie (Queen's University), George Frempong (York University), Dianne Looker (Acadia University), Nancy Mandell (York University), Sheila Marshall (University of British Columbia), Hans Schuetze (University of British Columbia), Victor Thiessen (Dalhousie University), Jim White (University of British Columbia), and Jamie Wood (University of British Columbia).