Source: Junor, S., & Usher, A. (2004)
In the mid 1990s there was a sudden decline in the number of part-time students in all provinces except BC and Alberta. Figure 5.3 shows total enrolment numbers for full-time and part-time university students since 1990. The reason for this decline is not well understood, although many explanations have been proposed (Junor and Usher, 2004). Some observers have linked the trend to changes in gender enrolment patterns. From the 1970s, to early 1990s, women tended to upgrade their academic qualifications in order to participate in the changing labour market. Thus they were less likely to enroll in full-time studies. Also, since it takes much longer to complete a program part-time, this likely reinforced the increase. Since 1992, however, there has been a decline in female part-time enrolment. This may be due to the fact that female labour market participation and educational qualifications are now roughly equivalent to those of males and upgrading to reflect a changing labour market is no longer as much of an issue. Other observers have noted the inadequacy of financial aid programs for part-time students and the fact that a significant number of programs do not even allow for part-time study. By the late 1990s parttime enrolment began to increase again though the enrolment level has not returned to former levels.
Accurate data on college enrolment are difficult to obtain in general, and part-time rates are particularly difficult to calculate. For this reason, data on part-time college enrolment need to be viewed with extreme caution. According to Junor and Usher (2004) complete data are available from about half of the institutions in the country. Part-time college rates followed a similar pattern to part-time university rates. Although the majority of part-time students in Canadian colleges are still over the age of 30, the only age group in which the number of part-time students grew during the 1990s is the 18- to 21-year-old group. During the same period, the number of 22- to 25-year-olds enrolled in part-time college studies decreased by approximately 20 percent and the number of part-time students aged 30 or over decreased by nearly 40 percent from the 1992 peak level.