There's some discussion about enrolment at the University of Toronto in the comments to University Students Aren't as Intelligent as They Used To Be.
Some people seem to be under the impression that enrolment at the University of Toronto has not increased recently. Here's the data from the 2009 Enrolment Report.
Enrolment has doubled since 1970 with most of the increase occurring in the past ten years as the echo boomers reach university age. The participation rate is also increasing. We currently have about 64,000 students (actually they're full-time equivalents (FTEs), but who's quibbling?). There are roughly 13,000 graduate students and 51,000 undergraduates.
Expansion is a good thing. I support it. However, it would be nice to have the extra resources that are required to do a good job of teaching these extra students.
I did not know one way or another if Toronto has been increasing. How much of the increase is due to the baby boom? To increasing numbers of women? To reaching out to disadvantaged populations?
ReplyDeleteYale College for example from 1978 to the present has maintained an enrollment between 5,150 and 5,350. The admit rate from 1969 (when Yale first started admitting women) to 2000 ranged from 18% to 27%. In 1999 for example it was 20 %. Recently the admit rate has dropped to less than 10%. In fact that is one of the reasons why Yale was considering building new residential colleges to increase enrollment to 15% before the recent hit on its endowment (expansion has been put off unless donors can be found). The Yale undergraduate population has become more international and less dominated by male WASPs. A school like that it is hard to see that its current student population is less intelligent than previous generations. My alma matter has seen similar type of results in the last decade. A public university does have a different obligation as you mentioned to give opportunity to more than those already very likely to succeed but that mission to be fulfilled requires greater resources.