Profile of Alberta's Advanced Education System

Overview & Synopsis

This document reviews Alberta's advanced education system for the period 1997-98 onwards. 1997-98 was selected as the base year because it provides several years worth of data and complements an earlier analysis: "Profile of Alberta's Adult Learning System: A Context for Discussion." In 2005, Alberta's Minister of Advanced Education initiated a comprehensive review of the province's advanced education system. This initiative, "A Learning Alberta," will identify a new vision as well as policy outcomes for the system. To assist in development of the vision and policy framework, three discussion documents have been prepared: "Ensuring Affordability in Alberta's Advanced Education System"; "Investing in Alberta's Advanced Education System"; and "Advanced Education in Rural Alberta: Challenges and Opportunities." Each discussion document identifies key issues, outlines challenges to achieving policy objectives, and identifies advanced education system opportunities. A fourth document, "Advanced Education: A Cross-jurisdictional Overview of Accessibility, Affordability and Quality," provides background on advanced education programs and policies in other jurisdictions. This document, the fifth in the series, supports the discussion documents and cross-jurisdictional overview by presenting historical data and trends. These trends can help inform stakeholder discussions, and in turn, support the review's goal of developing a new vision and policy framework for Alberta's advanced education system. (Contains 30 tables.) [This report was produced by Alberta Advanced Education.]