Ontario college graduates continue to have a distinct edge in the job market. 92.3 per cent of Loyalist College graduates who entered the labour force found employment within six months, according to the provincial Key Performance Indicator (KPI) results released this week. Furthermore, employers give Loyalist graduates a strong endorsement, with 91.7 per cent of surveyed employers expressing satisfaction with graduates hired within the past year.
“Colleges continue to provide students with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in today’s high-tech workplace,” said College President, Maureen Piercy. “The results show that college graduates play a vital role in Ontario’s prosperity and will be even more essential as the province faces a serious shortage of skilled workers over the next 20 years.”
The KPI data are released annually. The KPIs, which measure the success rates and satisfaction levels for students and graduates, are collected by two independent research firms for the colleges and for the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities.
In recent years, the KPIs have found high approval ratings among students, graduates and employers, and that trend continued in this data, which were collected from March 2007 to February 2008. The most recent findings for Loyalist College were:
- 91.7 per cent of employers were satisfied with the quality of the educational preparation of college graduates
- 92.3 per cent of college graduates found employment within six months of graduation
- 83.6 per cent of graduates were satisfied with the usefulness of their college education in achieving their goals after graduation
- 80.9 per cent of students were satisfied with the overall quality of services, programming and resources available to them
In addition, 96 per cent of Loyalist graduates said they would recommend Loyalist to someone else.
“These excellent results reflect the skills and talents of our committed Loyalist faculty, staff, and administrators working with students to help them achieve success,” said President Piercy. “Our Loyalist KPI results have been very positive for a number of years and, while there are always areas to improve, we are pleased with our College’s impact on the local and provincial economies.”
President Piercy said college graduates have a big advantage in the job market, noting that a third of Ontario’s workforce – 2.1 million people – has a college qualification, the largest group in the workforce.
She said Loyalist is working with the Ontario government and other partners to attract greater numbers of students to help the province meet the challenge of a growing skills shortage. The Conference Board of Canada estimates Ontario could be short more than 360,000 skilled workers by 2025.
“The KPI information underscores the important contribution colleges and their graduates are making to Ontario,” said Maureen Piercy. “We are building on this success to ensure Ontario has the skilled workforce it needs for future growth and prosperity.”
Media contact: Dianne Spencer, College Advancement and External Relations, (613) 969-1913, ext. 2235 or dspencer@loyalistc.on.ca