2005 News Releases
August 3, 2005
New degrees of opportunity for Alberta students
| View photos of the MacEwan announcement |
Edmonton... Students attending Grant MacEwan College will soon be able to earn bachelor degrees without transferring to a university, thanks to a recent decision by the Government of Alberta. MacEwan is the first public college to be given degree-granting status since Alberta's Post-secondary Learning Act came into effect.
Government approved proposals from the college to offer a four-year Bachelor of Arts with eight choices for major: Anthropology, Economics, English, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology and Sociology; as well as a four-year Bachelor of Child and Youth Care degree program. Students could enrol in these programs as early as fall 2006.
"Giving institutions the flexibility to deliver new degree programs creates many exciting opportunities for Alberta students," said Advanced Education and Technology Minister Dave Hancock. "Government is actively promoting changes within the post-secondary system that increase access - changes that provide more opportunities for students to reach their full potential. I commend MacEwan for its commitment to advancing education, and for giving its students the option to stay on campus to obtain a bachelor degree."
The MacEwan program proposals, which were submitted to Advanced Education and Technology last year, underwent a system coordination review to determine whether there was a need for the programs within the province's post-secondary system. They were then reviewed by the Campus Alberta Quality Council, a council that makes recommendations to the Minister of Advanced Education and Technology on applications from institutions wishing to offer new degree programs. The Council considered the institution's readiness to deliver and sustain degree programs, and reviewed the programs themselves to make sure they met national and international standards. The Council will monitor the programs once they are underway, to ensure they remain at the highest quality.
"We worked closely with Advanced Education and Technology and the Quality Council to ensure our proposals met quality standards, as well as the needs of students and the post-secondary system as a whole," said Dr. Paul Byrne, President and CEO of Grant MacEwan College. "We're pleased, excited and confident about this new direction for MacEwan and I look forward to expanding learning opportunities at the college even further."
For more information on the degree-granting application process and the Council, please visit http://www.caqc.gov.ab.ca/. To learn more about Grant MacEwan College and the programs they offer, please visit www.macewan.ca.
Backgrounder
Campus Alberta Quality Council
The Campus Alberta Quality Council is an arms-length quality assurance agency that makes recommendations to the Minister of Advanced Education and Technology on applications from post-secondary institutions wishing to offer new degree programs in Alberta. The Council operates under the terms of the Post-secondary Learning Act.
The Council is committed to ensuring the recognition of Alberta's degrees by using assessment standards and processes that are nationally and internationally accepted. Other than degrees in divinity, all degree programs offered in Alberta, including degrees offered by non-resident institutions, must be approved by the Minister of Advanced Education and Technology.
For more information on the Council and the required standards for degree-granting programs, visit http://www.caqc.gov.ab.ca/.
Alberta's post-secondary system - facts and stats
- More than 14,000 students graduated from bachelor degree programs in 2003-04. The most popular subject areas were Humanities and Social Sciences, Education, Business, and Science.
- The Alberta government will provide for a total of 60,000 new post-secondary spaces over the next 15 years.
The spaces will be created as follows:
- 15,000 spaces will be added over the next three years
- 30,000 will be added after the next six years
- 60,000 will be added by the year 2020.
- There are currently about 140,000 full-load equivalent post-secondary students in Alberta.
- Through the Access Growth Fund, government will provide $90 million over the next three years to support enrolment growth in the system. As well, an increase of $5.7 million will support new apprenticeship spaces for a total $22.5 million in the Access Growth Fund.
