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Survey of Canadian Career College Students - March 2008

5. Private Career College Programming

5.1 Available Programs

A wide variety of programs are available to students at private career colleges. By major category, students most commonly take programming related to Health (38%) and Media or Information Technology (24%). Health programs include tradi­tional health care programming (18%), beauty/ esthetic/cosmetology (7%), hairdressing (7%), dental care (2%), alternative health (1%) and other health (3%). Media or Information Technology programming includes office business administration (13%), computers (5%), radio/television/film/music (4%), and other (1%). For a complete description of the program categories please refer to Table 5-2.

The distribution of students by private career college program varies by province:

  • Trades and Technical Training programs are more commonly attended by students in the Atlantic provinces (15%) and Quebec (10%).
  • Students in Design programs (8%) are more common in British Columbia compared to other regions.
  • Relative to the rest of the country, students in Ontario (43%) and British Columbia (46%) more commonly attend Health programs.

Figure 5-1

Numbers may not add up to 100% due to rounding.
n=13,721 (weighted data)

On average, apprenticeship training accounts for approximately 12% of students enrolled in a career college program. Programming in Trades/Technical Training (44%) is more often related to an appren­ticeship than is the case in other program areas

Table 5-2
Student Enrollment in Programs Offered at Private Career Colleges

Programs Response % Males % Females %
Trades/Technical Training 7.1% 20.9% 1.8%
Construction/Other Trades 2.2% 7.4% 0.2%
Aviation 1.4% 3.5% 0.5%
Driver Training 1.2% 3.9% 0.1%
Automotive Service/Business/Retail 0.4% 1.1% 0.1%
Electronics/Engineering/Robotics 0.2% 0.7% —
Civil Engineering Technology 0.1% 0.4% —
Other Trades/Technical training 1.6% 3.9% 0.6%
Health 38.1% 15.8% 46.8%
Health Care/Health Services 17.9% 10.8% 20.7%
Hairdressing 7.4% 1.6% 9.7%
Beauty/Esthetics/Cosmetology 7.1% 0.6% 9.7%
Dental Care 1.9% 0.2% 2.6%
Alternative Healthcare (Acupressure) 1.3% 1.1% 1.3%
Other Health 2.5% 1.5% 2.9%
Other Service 10.0% 9.5% 10.2%
Law and Security 3.3% 4.3% 3.0%
Child & Youth Worker/Special Ed./Education Assistant 2.1% 0.6% 2.7%
Childcare 1.7% 0.1% 2.4%
Counselling 0.7% 0.5% 0.8%
Social Services/Community Support 0.6% 0.2% 0.7%
Other Service 1.5% 3.8% 0.6%
Media/Information Technology 23.6% 28.6% 21.7%
Office Business Administration 13.1% 8.1% 15.3%
Computers 4.8% 10.9% 2.3%
Radio/Television/Film/Music 3.9% 6.1% 3.0%
Desktop Publishing/Multimedia 0.4% 0.9% 0.2%
Journalism/Photography 0.3% 0.3% 0.2%
Other Media/Information Technology 1.1% 2.4% 0.7%
Design 4.4% 7.2% 3.3%
Interior Decorating/Design 0.9% 0.4% 1.1%
Fashion/Design/Merchandising 0.4% 0.1% 0.5%
Other Design 2.9% 6.5% 1.6%
Other 16.8% 18.0% 16.3%
Performing Arts 4.5% 2.7% 5.3%
Bible/Theological 3.8% 6.5% 2.9%
Hospitality/Tourism/Travel 3.6% 2.4% 4.0%
Culinary/Cook/Chef 1.8% 3.5% 1.2%
Animal Care 0.7% 0.1% 1.0%
General Upgrading 0.7% 1.2% 0.5%
Other 1.6% 1.9% 1.5%
Numbers may not add up to 100% due to rounding.
n=13,721 (weighted data)

5.1.1 Program Characteristics

The majority (97%) of private career college students attend their program full-time, similar to those attending public college programs. There is no difference in program attendance across programs or regions as the vast majority of the students surveyed attended their program full-time. Private college students more commonly attend their program on a full-time basis compared to those in the public system.

Figure 5-3

Numbers may not add up to 100% due to rounding.
Private n=13,490 (weighted data excludes don't' know/no response); Public n=7,430

Overall across all programs, career college programs are commonly seven to 12 months in duration. However, program duration is not uniform across all program areas. For example, Trades/ Technical programs are generally shorter in duration, typically ranging from three to 12 months (85%), while Health, Media/Information Technology and Other Service typically range from seven to 23 months.

It is difficult to compare private and public program length since different categories were used in each survey to classify program length. In the public system survey students indicated programs ranging from less than a year (18%), one year to less than two years (20%), 24 to 35 months (35%), 36 to 47 months (13%), 36 to 47 months (13%) and more than 47 months (1%). It can be said, however, that programming in the public college system tends to run for a longer duration, more often running two years or longer (public 62%, 24 months or longer; private 12%, 24 months or longer).

Table 5-4a
Program Length by Region

Regionally, programming in Atlantic and Quebec tends to be slightly longer than in other jurisdictions. Atlantic (35%) and Quebec (42%) programming is more commonly 13 to 23 months in duration compared to Ontario (13%), the Prairies (9%) and British Columbia (8%). Programming in Ontario (57%), the Prairies (59%) and British Columbia (65%) is more often seven to 12 months in duration compared to the Atlantic provinces (47%) and Quebec (41%).

Table 5-4b
Program Length by Region

Program Length Atlantic (n=3,134) Quebec (n=654) Ontario (n=4,058) Prairies (n=2,858) British Columbia (n=2,839) Total (n=13,543)
Less than 3 months 2% — 1% 1% 2% 1%
3 to 6 months 5% 17% 14% 14% 15% 12%
7 to 12 months 47% 41% 57% 59% 65% 56%
13 to 23 months 35% 42% 13% 9% 8% 18%
24 to 35 months 9% — 13% 12% 8% 10%
36 to 47 months — — — 4% 1% 1%
More than 47 — —   1% 2% 1%
Numbers may not add up to 100% due to rounding.
n=13,543 (weighted data excludes don't know/no response)

Generally, most students (65%) do not move to attend private career colleges. Only one-third (33%) of the students surveyed had moved to attend their program. By region, students in the Prairies (38%) are more likely to move compared to other regions, while students in Ontario (29%) are less likely. By program, over half (55%) of the students in Other programs, such as performing arts, biblical or theological, hospitality/tourism/travel and culinary/ cook or chef, moved to attend their program. If students move it is most commonly over 80 kms (Figure 5-5).

Figure 5-5

Numbers may not add up to 100% due to rounding.
n=13,721 (weighted data includes don't know/no response)

5.2 Reasons for Program Selection

Students in private career colleges enroll in post­secondary education for a wide range of reasons, with a change in career or to pursue a specific career (36%) being the most frequently cited reason, followed by general interest or personal develop­ment (25%). Reasons for entering PSE are generally uniform across program areas and by region.

Table 5-6
Main Reason for Pursuing Post-Secondary Education

Reason Response %
Change career or pursue a job 36%
General interest or personal development 25%
Study at an advanced level or gain further skills in same field 10%
Gain specific practical skills in addition to academic qualifications 10%
Increase earning potential or compensation 6%
Gain recognition of foreign education/training or experience 4%
Change careers since education from other country not recognized 3%
Responses cited by 1% or fewer respondents 5%
Numbers may not add up to 100% due to rounding.
n=13,721 (weighted data excludes don't know/no response)

Program availability (to attend a specific program) (45%), short program length (37%) and institution reputation or quality (37%) were most the important criteria for school selection. The reasons for selecting a particular institution varied by program attended, for example:

  • Students in Design more frequently selected the institution because of class size (34%), to attend a specific program (52%) and/or due to the availability of programs not offered in public colleges or universities (19%).
  • Students in Other programs more frequently indicated that they chose an institution because of reputation or quality (52%), to attend a specific program (50%) and/or for the availability of programs not offered in public colleges or universities (22%).
  • Media and Information Technology students were significantly more likely to say they selected an institution for short program length (44%) or hours of classes or instruction (21%).
  • Other Service program students selected an insti­tution to attend a specific program (52%) or for hours of classes or instruction (18%) significantly more often than other program students.

As illustrated in Table 5-7, for students enrolled in a career college in Quebec, the main attraction to the program included short program length (52%) and institution reputation or quality (53%), while in Atlantic Canada specific programming (52%) is more important than in other regions.

Table 5-7
Top Three Reasons for Attending a Specific Private Career College

As noted, 37% of students selected an institution because of its reputation or quality and 20% because the institution was recommended to them. When asked how they first heard of their program, it was clear that students are primarily learning about private career colleges through friends (35%), advertisements (27%) and from a website or online (27%). Few students learn about institutions from other sources such as government agencies (2%) or career counsellors (10%).

Within the various program streams, relative to other programs, friends are more likely to inform those in Health (37%) and Other programs (42%), advertisements those in Media and Information Technology (35%) and websites/online those in Design (36%).

In Quebec advertising from institutions more strongly impacts students, as these students more frequently selected advertisements (46%) and website/online (34%) as the methods by which they first heard of an institution.

Table 5-8
Method by Which Students First Heard of Program

Reasons Atlantic (n=3,194) Quebec (n=643) Ontario (n=4,048) Prairies (n=2,885) British Columbia (n=2,847) Total (n=13,617)
Friends 37% 33% 33% 36% 33% 35%
Advertisements 26% 46% 26% 27% 24% 27%
Website/Online 27% 34% 27% 20% 32% 27%
Family 19% 14% 14% 23% 14% 17%
Students enrolled in the program 13% 9% 9% 14% 9% 11%
Career Counsellor 14% 9% 9% 8% 9% 10%
Representatives from the institution 10% 2% 6% 10% 5% 8%
Government agency 3% 2% 3% 1% 1% 2%
Other (unspecified) 9% 6% 13% 12% 11% 11%
Numbers will not add up to 100% due to multiple responses.
n=13,617 (weighted data excludes don't know/no response)

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Date Modified:
2008-04-07