Press Releases

KEY THEME: Students are working more and reducing debt.

The 2023 Middle-Years Student Survey marks the 29^th cooperative study undertaken by the Canadian University Survey Consortium (CUSC). The 2023 survey involved 29 universities and almost 12,000 students from across Canada. Past surveys involved between 24 and 29 participating universities with a range of 15,248 to 22,537 students completing the survey.

Middle-Years Survey	Participating universities	Completed surveys
2023	29	11,585
2020	29	20,449
2017	24	15,248
2014	25	22,537

Student employment

The proportion of middle-years students who work while attending university (excluding co-op) has risen by six percentage points over the past four surveys. Students are more likely to be workingand the average hours worked has increased to 18 hours per week, up almost 10% from 2017 and 2020.

Top sources of financing education

Although family tends to be the predominant source of funding for students’ post-secondary education, the proportion who rely on this source has slowly been trending down over time (64% to 56%). This has been coupled with an increase in the proportion of those receiving university scholarships and awards, from 33% in 2014 to 39% in 2023.

Average amount of financing

The typical 2023 middle-years student requires about $17,500 to fund a single year of their education, which is 10% to 20% lower than past surveys. In part, the decrease in debt (see page 2) may be due to a decrease in the average amount students say they require to finance their education.

Student debt

The biggest source of debt is government student loans. The increases and decreases in the proportion of students that have debt are lock-step with changes in those relying on government student loans. There have been slight decreases in students taking on other forms of debt, which may be a reason why the proportion that have debt in 2023 is the lowest over the last four surveys.

Results for 2023 show that middle-years students have the lowest average debt levels over the past four surveys when adjusted for inflation. The typical student with debt carries about $21,000 in debt, which is 20% to 30% lower than past surveys.

Perceptions of finances (% “strongly agree” or “agree”)

Over time, there has been very little change in the proportion of middle-years students who believe they have the financial resources to complete their program. However, the proportion who believe that a university degree is worth the cost has been declining steadily over the past four surveys, dropping by 14 percentage points, from 65% in 2014 to 51% in 2023. Given that the students’ debt levels and the cost of university have been trending favorably, this may be more reflective of perceptions of their education than the costs.

KEY THEME: Undergraduate students appear less satisfied with their university experiences.

The 2023 Middle-Years Student Surveymarks the 29^th cooperative study undertaken by the Canadian University Survey Consortium (CUSC). The 2023 survey involved 29 universities and almost 12,000 students from across Canada. Past surveys involved between 24 and 29 participating universities with a range of 15,248 to 22,537 students completing the survey.

Middle-Years Survey	Middle-Years Survey	Middle-Years Survey
2023	29	11,585
2020	29	20,449
2017	24	15,248
2014	25	22,537

Recommend university to others (Net Promoter Score)

Students were asked to rate the likelihood that they would recommend their university to others on a scale from 0 (not at all likely) to 10 (extremely likely). The Net Promoter Score (NPS) was calculated, where detractors (rating of 0 to 6) are subtracted from promoters (rating of 9 or 10), Over the last two surveys, there has been a significant decline in the NPS for universities, dropping from -1 in 2020 (27% minus 28%) to -13 in 2023 (22% minus 35%).

Commitment to university education (% ‘strongly agree’ or ‘agree’)

Students were asked to rate the commitment to completing their undergraduate program. The graph below illustrates students’ future plans concerning their educational pursuits and commitment to their current university. Although there has been a slight increase in the past two surveys of students indicating that they plan to go to college the following year instead of returning to their studies, the vast majority (around 90%) indicate they plan to complete their degree at their current university.

Expectations and experience

When asked about whether the university has surpassed, met, or fallen short of their expectations, there has been a decrease in students who say their experiences have exceed expectations coupled with an increase in those who say their experiences have fallen short.

Perceptions of university program (% ‘strongly agree’ or ‘agree’)

Overall, the vast majority of students are positive about their program. However, there has been a slight decline in students’ agreement in a few areas, most notably that they had adequate information about their program from the university before enrolling – dropping six percentage points over time.

Perceptions of effort (% ‘strongly agree’ or ‘agree’)

Among four statements assessing students’ abilities and efforts, the statement willing to put a lot of effort into being successful at a university has consistently received the highest rating. However, trend lines indicate that fewer students agree that they can deal with stress, dropping eight percentage points over time.

Satisfaction with decision to attend this university

When students were asked to assess their satisfaction with their decision to attend the university, the majority expressed contentment; however, the proportion who are very satisfied has decreased by three percentage points in each of the past two surveys.

KEY THEME: Undergraduate students showing less satisfaction with quality of teaching and faculty’s interest in their academic development.

The 2023 Middle-Years Student Survey marks the 29^th cooperative study undertaken by the Canadian University Survey Consortium (CUSC). The 2023 survey involved 29 universities and almost 12,000 students from across Canada. Past surveys involved between 24 and 29 participating universities with a range of 15,248 to 22,537 students completing the survey.

Middle-Years Survey	Participating universities	Completed surveys
2023	29	11,585
2020	29	20,449
2017	24	15,248
2014	25	22,537

Satisfaction with Quality of Teaching (% ‘strongly agree or ‘agree’)

Over the last three surveys, there has been a slight decline in the percentage of students that agree they are satisfied with the quality of teaching they received.

Perceptions of Professors – Top 5 perceptions of professor’s (% ‘strongly agree’ or ‘agree’)

Students are asked to rate the performance of their professors in 13 different areas. The graph below shows the top five areas of performance, which have been fairly consistent over time, with only slight changes year over year.

Perceptions of Professors – Bottom 5 perceptions of professor’s (% ‘strongly agree’ or ‘agree’)

Conversely, amongst the bottom five areas of professors’ performance, there has been a sharp decline in students’ ratings of professors taking a personal interest in their academic progress, down 14 percentage points since 2014.

Growth and Development – Top 5 areas of students’ growth and development (% ‘very much’ or ‘much’)

Students rated their university’s contribution to their growth and development in 28 different areas. Overall, students indicate that universities contribute most to working independently each year, with slight changes over time.

Growth and Development – Bottom areas of students’ growth and development (% ‘very much’ or ‘much’)

Among those same 28 areas, students over the past four surveys consistently rated their university’s contribution the lowest in three areas – spirituality, second or third language skills, and entrepreneurial skills.

Services and Facilities – Top 5 most used facilities and services

Amongst 26 different facilities and services, there has been a noticeable decline in student use of several. Some of the decline can likely be directly attributed to the impacts of the pandemic, such as use of food services – down 18 percentage points since 2014 – while others may be due to a shift to online resources, such as on-campus bookstore – down 27 percentage points. Another shift was in use of library e-resources, down 22 percentage points from 73% in 2014 to just 51% in 2023.

Services and Facilities –Bottom 5 most used facilities and services with lowest satisfaction (% ‘very satisfied’ or ‘satisfied’)

Generally students who use a facility or service have very high satisfaction with it, typically greater than 90%. However, over time, several standout as being areas of concern amongst students, with Parking having the lowest satisfaction.