University

The opportunity for higher education still holds quite a draw for many students. In 1998/99, 580,400 full-time students and 246,000 part-time students were enrolled in Canada's universities.

Between 1988/89 and 1998/99, full-time enrolment at Canadian universities increased 16%. Growth was stronger between 1988/89 and 1992/93 than in the latter part of the decade. Part-time enrolment has been falling since 1992/93, with an overall 19% decrease over the decade between 1988/89 and 1998/99. These enrolment trends are evident in all provinces except Alberta and British Columbia, where part-time enrolment has increased along with full-time.

Traditionally, women participated in part-time undergraduate studies more than men, but now they also make up the majority in full-time. Men are still in the majority for graduate enrolment, but their share dropped from 59% to 52% of graduate students over the 1990s.

In 1998/99, about one in five universities and degree granting institutions had a student population under 300. Even so, universities tend to be larger than our other educational institutions. In fact, one in three had more than 10,000 students enrolled.

The most popular bachelor's/first professional degrees among graduates in 1998 were in the social sciences, followed by engineering and applied sciences, education and humanities.

Women's choices of subjects differ from men's at the university level. More than twice as many women received a degree in education programs as men did in 1998/99. More than three times as many men were granted an engineering and applied sciences degree as women, and twice as many graduated in mathematics and physical sciences.

In 1998, of the 172,000 students who received a university degree, 72,000 were men and 100,000 were women.