Mighty Oaks From Little Acorns Grow

This Globe and Mail article discusses a new study that reports that half of low-income students make their decision about post-secondary education before they reach high school, and that financial considerations are not part of the decision-making process. This is borne out by an analysis by the Frontier Centre for Public Policy which shows that university tuitions vary widely from province to province and have little or no correlation with university participation in the province.

Not mentioned in the article is the importance of good academic performance in school. Let’s face it: a kid who is getting D’s in grade 7 is hardly going to be leaning towards university (more likely leaning towards dropping out!) And since a student’s performance in grade 1 is highly predictive of his or her subsequent academic performance, perhaps the emphasis should be on ensuring that all students succeed during that crucial first year.

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