Lakehead University joined the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities and the Council of Ontario Universities in a project to make information available regarding student's graduation rates, graduate employment rates, and OSAP loan default rates.

1994 Cohort Graduation Rate

The Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities calculated graduation rates by selecting all full-time, year one undergraduate students from Fall 1994 who were seeking either a bachelors or first professional degree and determining whether or not they graduated within 7 years.  The subset was matched against the records for students who received a degree from the same institution during the period 1995-2001. 

It should be noted that students who transferred to another institution, for example to pursue a program that Lakehead does not offer such as medicine or dentistry, are not counted as a graduate in Lakehead's rate.  

2000 Graduates Employment Rate 

To determine employment rates of recent graduates, Ontario universities conducted a survey of all 2000 graduates of undergraduate degree programs.  Graduates were asked about their employment situation six months and two years after graduation.  The first mailing of the 2000 Graduate Placement survey forms took place on December 10, 2002.  The second mailing of "reminders" was sent to non-respondents on January 20, 2003.  Lakehead's response rate was 32.6%, the same as last year's survey (32.7%), and higher than  the province-wide rate of 29.5%. 

The survey measures the employment rate of students employed or looking for work, as opposed to students who are continuing their education or are out of the work force for personal reasons, 6 months and 2 years following graduation.  

At 2 years, 96.2% of Lakehead graduates were employed versus 96.1% for the system overall.  Lakehead University's employment rates six months after graduation for 2000 graduates was 94.9% compared to the provincial average of 95.9%. 

The system overall rate is the rate used in the performance indicators funding envelope and includes programs in the system such as medicine, dentistry and law where both the graduation and employment rate are virtually 100%.  

2002 OSAP Loan Default Rate

The 2002 default rates reflect the repayment status of both undergraduate and graduate students who received Ontario Student Loans in the 1999-2000 academic year and did not receive an Ontario Student Loan in 2000-2001, and who subsequently defaulted on their repayment obligations approximately two years after graduation.  An Ontario Student Loan is in default when the Ontario government has paid the bank's claim for an inactive loan.  A loan is inactive when no payments were made by the student for at least 90 days.  Responsibility for recovery of defaulted accounts was transferred to private collection agencies in January 1999.

For the purpose of calculating default rates, student loan recipients/defaulters are assigned to the last institution/program they attended in 1999-2000.  The status of these loans was assessed as of July 2002 or about two years after entering into repayment.  Lakehead University's 2002 default rate for all programs is 11.2%. 

For more information:

Kerrie-Lee Clarke, Director of Institutional Analysis & Government Relations
807-343-8339

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