BC Student Outcomes: The 2017 Highlights
Author: BC Student Outcomes (Canada)
Date: 2017-00-00
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Student Surveys,College Students,Academic Degrees,Associate Degrees,Bachelors Degrees,Certification,College Graduates,Employment Level,Unemployment,Outcomes of Education,Job Skills,Educational Attainment,Apprenticeships,Postsecondary Education,Intellectual Disciplines,Educational Finance,Paying for College,Educational Quality,Satisfaction,Debt (Financial),Workplace Learning,Wages

Student feedback is essential to maintaining quality and relevance in the education system. Through surveying former students, BC Student Outcomes provides the information needed to help shape post-secondary education in British Columbia. Every year, BC Student Outcomes collects feedback from former students who took post-secondary programs, including baccalaureate programs; associate degree, diploma, or certificate programs; and apprenticeship, trades foundation or trades-related vocational training. In 2017, almost 28,000 former students were surveyed. This report presents key results from those surveys. Students' satisfaction with their education is associated with favourable education evaluations and successful labour market outcomes. Most (93 percent) of the former students surveyed in 2017 were &quot;satisfied&quot; or &quot;very satisfied&quot; with the education or training they received. Of baccalaurerate graduates: (1) 46% took further studies; (2) 89% were in the labour force; (3) 6.0% was the unemployment rate; and (4) 85% of those working said the knowledge and skills they learned were useful for employment. Of associate degree and university transfer students: (1) 77% took further studies; (2) 82% of those who took further studies at a different institution received transfer credits; and (3) 85% of those who expected credits were satisfied with the transfer experience. Of diploma and graduate students: (1) 91% were in the labour force; (2) 7.1% was the unemployment rate; (3) 81% of those employed were in a training-related job; and (4) 83% of those employed were working full-time. Of apprenticeship students: (1) 88% said their in-school training was related to their workplace experience; (2) 98% were in the labour force; (3) 5.7% was the unemployment rate; and (4) 90% of those employed said their job was related to their training. Of trades foundation students: (1) 82% tried to find employment as an apprentice; (2) 65% of those who tried, became apprentices; and (3) 78% of those employed said the knowledge and skills they gained from training were useful in the performance of their jobs. Findings from the Student Outcomes surveys are used by the Province of British Columbia for labour market analysis, policy development, and accountability. Post-secondary institutions use the data to improve programs and services; their academic and career counsellors draw on the results to advise prospective and continuing students. [The BC Student Outcome surveys are conducted with funding from the Ministry of Advanced Education, Skills and Training, the Industry Training Authority, and from British Columbia's public post-secondary institutions. For &quot;BC Student Outcomes: The 2016 Highlights,&quot; see ED590476.]