Preliminary enrolment numbers down for two of three local post-secondary schools

With schools at all levels forced into a state of uncertainty for the next school year thanks to COVID-19, graduating high school students, too, aren’t sure what their future holds — and it’s showing in enrolment numbers for local post-secondary institutions.

According to Carleton University and Algonquin College, enrolment numbers are currently seeing a decrease, while the University of Ottawa reports a general increase in demand overall.

Carleton University spokesperson Steven Reid told CityNews Ottawa that applications are down four per cent at the moment compared to last year. Although, Reid does clarify that final numbers aren’t expected to be available until November.

The programs seeing the most popular demand at the moment are the bachelor of computer science, bachelor of health sciences and bachelor of media production and design.

Last period, Carleton reported having 27,370 undergraduate students and 4,152 graduate students, totalling 31,522 students.

Algonquin College spokesperson Chris Lackner said the school is experiencing a nine per cent decrease in enrolment year-over-year.

As of January 22, 2021, Algonquin's Winter 2021 enrolment for new and returning students (Post-secondary and Graduate Certificates) was 17,944.

“At this point, we are not able to provide numbers or projections for our Spring 2020 term,” Lackner told CityNews Ottawa. “The application process is still open and enrolment in any of our terms fluctuates until Day 10 of each term – which is the last day for official withdrawal from the College with a full tuition refund, less tuition deposit. We do not release information on enrolment numbers until Day 10 of each term.”

It’s also too early to project for the Fall 2021 semester for similar reasons, he added.

“For context, we can provide last fall’s data. As of Sept. 21, 2020 our Fall term count for new and returning students (Post-secondary and Graduate Certificates) was 18,655, representing a decrease of 1,542 students (-8%) over Fall 2019,” Lackner explained.

Among the most popular programs students are signing up for this round include the practical nursing program, paramedic program and medical radiation.

Algonquin’s latest numbers have the student population at 19,957, with 25,762 continuing education registrations. International students accounted for 4,000 of the student body.

On the other hand, the University of Ottawa said it continues to generally see growth internationally.

“We are seeing a big demand for health-related programs across multiple faculties, namely: health sciences, nursing, biomedical science and psychology all have significant increases,” spokesperson Isabelle Mailloux-Pulkinghorn told CityNews Ottawa.

Other programs seeing a boost are computer-related sciences, like computer science, software engineering and computer engineering.

This, she said, has been the trend for a number of years.

Last fall, the University of Ottawa reported getting 70,677 applications for undergraduate programs and 11,609 for graduate programs.

However, enrolments for undergraduates came to 9,019 with graduates totalling 1,462.