UFV recently released a report entitled Environmental Scan in Support of Strategic Planning, which compiles statistics from the past five to 10 years. The data from this report reveals facts and trends about UFV, including a rise in the number of international students, as well as a first-year student retention rate of 60 per cent.
Studies on student retention and achievement have revealed that over 40 per cent of new students end up leaving UFV during their first year. It is also taking longer for students to obtain a bachelor’s degree, although this is less the case with diplomas or those who have transfer credits from other universities.
UFV’s proportion of international students has also more than doubled over the past five years, increasing from 932 enrolments in the 2013-14 academic year to 2,289 in 2018-19, an increase of 145.6 per cent. Meanwhile, the number of domestic students remained steady over that time period with a change of negative one per cent.
The country of origin of most international students has changed as well. In 2013, the greatest number of students came from China. Since then, enrollment of Chinese students has declined by 28.2 per cent, while enrollments of students from India have increased by 609.7 per cent, overtaking China and all other countries of origin.
Chandigarh is UFV’s fastest-growing campus with a 236.3 per cent increase in enrollments over the past year, though student numbers remain small, with only 306 enrolled during 2018/19. Enrollment at other campuses has varied greatly. Attendance is increasingly centralized in the Abbotsford and Chilliwack campuses, which saw moderate increases in full-time enrollment during the five-year period, while some other centres saw a decrease. Most notably, Hope and Mission suffered a decline of roughly two-thirds each. Online enrollment has also increased by 33.9 per cent.
Student surveys indicate that a major factor in choosing UFV is cost of tuition and closeness to home. 86 per cent of first-year UFV student survey respondents reported living with parents, guardians, or relatives, and 67 per cent reported being employed, as opposed to a national average of 45 per cent and 36 per cent respectively. Fewer students at UFV hold debt than the Canadian average, but those who do owe more. While UFV may be seen as the cheap and convenient option for many, student expressions of satisfaction with UFV’s services are equal to or higher than the Canadian average.
The report also examined the employment and income prospects of UFV graduates. On the whole, median incomes for graduates with a bachelor’s degree are not much greater than those with a high school diploma in the 25-34 age bracket, differing by about $5,000 annually. Those who have an apprenticeship or trades diploma or certificate, however, have a median income of $15,000 more. For those in the 35-44 age bracket, median incomes rise significantly for those who hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, or those who possess the aforementioned trades certifications. Other parts of the study point out that “degree inflation,” which reduces the value of a degree because of the number of people who hold it, is less likely to be a factor in the Fraser Valley, since fewer people in the region have post-secondary credentials.
