Bill 127 2015

An Act to amend the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario Act, 2005 to require the Council to collect and publish information in respect of certain educational institutions

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

   1.  Section 6 of the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario Act, 2005 is amended by striking out "and" at the end of subclause (c) (iii) and by adding the following clause:

(c.1) to collect and publish information in accordance with section 8.1; and

   2.  The Act is amended by adding the following section:

Publication of information about educational institutions

Purpose

   8.1  (1)  The purpose of this section is to support more informed choices regarding post-secondary options by centralizing data relevant to the decision making process in the areas of admission, student experience and outcomes for recent graduates.

Information to be collected

   (2)  For every school year, the Council shall collect the following information in respect of every program of study offered by every campus and constituent campus of every post-secondary educational institution and by every institution operated by a person who is authorized to grant a degree under section 4 of the Post-secondary Education Choice and Excellence Act, 2000:

    1.  The admission requirements for the program of study in the upcoming school year.

    2.  The costs of the program of study, including tuition, ancillary fees and the costs of any required educational materials.

    3.  The financial value of government student aid and bursaries that were available to students in the program of study.

    4.  Any class size information that the Council considers appropriate.

    5.  Any demographic information about the student population in the institution that the Council considers appropriate, such as,

            i.  the age composition of the student population,

           ii.  the percentage of students who came from a province or territory other than Ontario,

          iii.  the percentage of students who lived on campus, and

          iv.  the percentage of students who were engaged in full-time and part-time studies.

    6.  Student satisfaction with indicators such as the institution's teaching quality, library resources, campus accessibility, academic and career support services, health services including mental health services, co-operative work programs, extracurricular programs, facilities and residences as determined by the survey established by the regulations.

    7.  Graduate satisfaction with the overall educational experience in the program of study as determined by the survey established by the regulations.

    8.  The employment and educational status of graduates from the program of study as determined by the Council, which may include information such as,

            i.  the location of employment,

           ii.  the industry sector of employment,

          iii.  the full-time or part-time status of employment, and

          iv.  any further post-secondary education that graduates are pursuing.

    9.  The average annual compensation of graduates from the program of study after graduation at the intervals determined by the Council.

  10.  The average government-issued student debt of graduates from the program of study.

  11.  The percentage of graduates from the program of study who have defaulted on their government-issued student loans six months after graduation and two years after graduation.

  12.  Employer satisfaction with graduates from the program of study as determined by the Council.

  13.  Any other information the Council considers appropriate.

  14.  Any other prescribed information.

Approval by Information and Privacy Commissioner

   (3)  The information in subsection (2) must be collected in a manner that is approved by the Information and Privacy Commissioner.

Publication of information

   (4)  The Council shall publish the information collected under subsection (2) on a website operated by the Council.

Exception

   (5)  Subsection (4) does not apply to information that the Council determines is not ready for publication.

Format

   (6)  The Council shall ensure that the information collected under subsection (2) is presented in a consistent format that is accurate and easy to use.

Report to Minister

   (7)  One year after the day this section comes into force, the Council shall provide a report to the Minister about its progress in publishing the information collected under subsection (2).

Definitions

   (8)  In this section,

"program of study" means a program of post-secondary study leading to a degree, diploma or certificate; ("programme d'études")

"school year" means a year that begins on May 1 and that ends on April 30 of the subsequent year. ("année scolaire")

   3.  Subsection 9 (1) of the Act is amended by adding the following clauses:

(q.1) governing the collection of information under section 8.1;

(q.2) establishing and governing the survey referred to in paragraphs 6 and 7 of subsection 8.1 (2), including prescribing the people who must be surveyed, the form and manner of the survey and the timing of the survey;

(q.3) clarifying the meaning of any paragraph in subsection 8.1 (2);

(q.4) prescribing additional information that the Council must collect for the purposes of paragraph 14 of subsection 8.1 (2);

Commencement

   4.  This Act comes into force one year after the day it receives Royal Assent.

Short title

   5.  The short title of this Act is the Pathways to Post-secondary Excellence Act (Post-secondary Educational Report), 2015.

 

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Bill amends the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario Act, 2005 to require the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario to collect and publish information about certain educational institutions. This information must be collected every school year.

The Council must publish this information on a website unless the Council determines that it is not ready for publication. The Council must report to the Minister about its progress in publishing the information.

The Lieutenant Governor in Council is given regulatory powers with respect to these new requirements.