Higher Education Accessibility

Access to higher education remains a pressing policy challenge, not only nationally but internationally as well. Academica Group has been at the forefront of this line of inquiry since 1996, when our UAS^TM and CAS^TM studies were among the few sources of reliable Canadian data on applicant financial planning and preparedness.

In 2006, Academica Group joined with the Educational Policy Institute and the Queen's University School of Policy Studies to conduct the MESA study (Measuring the Effectiveness of Student Aid). This four-year research project, funded by the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation, was designed to measure the impact and cost-effectiveness of bursaries for low-income students on access to and persistence in post-secondary education.

In addition, our policy studies extend beyond financial accessibility issues to examine psychological and social barriers to higher education. Academica Group developed and published the first-ever survey tool to measure Perceived Return on Investment for PSE (PRoI-PSE). This instrument, which has been proven reliable and valid, can be employed by investigators to better understand the nature of youth decision-making, and to help develop and evaluate intervention programs and strategies. In a 2008 study conducted for the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (MTCU), this tool was used to examine the nature and effectiveness of institutional communications about post-secondary education, based on applicants' assessment of the perceived return on investment in PSE and with specific reference to the experience of Aboriginal students, visible minority students, students with disabilities, and first generation applicants.