Career colleges KPIs

Overview

Key performance indicators result from surveys completed by students and employers.

The Superintendent has issued a policy directive outlining what career colleges are required to do with key performance indicators.

Learn how KPIs are defined and calculated

Find information about career colleges for students and operators.

KPI survey years

Calculations and definitions of KPIs

Career college key performance indicators (KPIs) methodology and calculations closely mirror those used for colleges of applied arts and technology.

Graduation Rate

Graduation Rate = Program Graduates ÷ [Program Entrants – Transfer-out Students] X 100

For a student to be considered graduated for the purpose of calculating a vocational program’s graduation rate KPI, he or she must have graduated within a period two times the length of the program in weeks.  This is called the student’s ‘graduation allowed period’.

A program’s graduation rate is calculated by tracking students whose graduation allowed period end dates fell within the calendar year and determining whether or not they graduated prior to those dates.

For example, each vocational program’s 2013 graduation rate was calculated by determining the total number of program students whose graduation allowed period end dates fell in 2013 and who graduated before those dates, as a percentage of the total number of students whose graduation allowed period end dates fell in the same year.

For each vocational program, students who transfer out into another vocational program provided by the same institution are removed from the group that is being tracked, and those who transfer in are included as a separate program entrant.

Students who withdraw from a vocational program within the program’s defined grace period are also removed from the group that is being tracked. The grace period is defined as 25% of the program’s duration in weeks, to a maximum of eight weeks.

Graduate Employment Rate

Graduate Employment Rate = # of Employed Graduates ÷ # of Graduates in the Labour Force

The graduate employment KPI is defined as the percentage of graduates in the labour force who are employed during a specific reference week. The labour force is defined as those employed, those not employed but looking for a job, or those not employed but who have accepted a job to start shortly. This KPI is calculated from the following survey question:

“During the week of [INSERT REFERENCE WEEK] were you...

1. Employed or self-employed?
2. Employed or self-employed, but looking for another job?
3. Not employed, but had accepted a job to start shortly?
4. Not employed, but looking for a job?
5. Not employed, but not looking for a job?”

Graduate Employment Rate in the Field of Study (GEFS)

GEFS = Graduates Employed in Related or Partially Related Field ÷ # Graduates in Labour Force

The GEFS KPI is defined as the percentage of graduates in the labour force who are employed during a reference week in a field related or partially related to their training. The labour force is defined as those employed, those not employed but looking for a job or those not employed who had accepted a job to start shortly. This KPI is calculated from the following survey question:

“Was this job related to the [INSERT PROGRAM NAME] program that you graduated from?

1. Yes
2. Yes, partially
3. No
4. Don't know”

OSAP Default Rate

OSAP Default Rate = # Defaults Two Years After Ending Studies ÷ # Total Loan Recipients that Ended Studies in the Same Year

OSAP stands for the Ontario Student Assistance Program; a program run by the Ministry of Colleges and Universities, which is funded by the provincial and federal governments.

OSAP Default Rate refers to the rate of individuals defaulting on loans received from the Canada-Ontario Integrated Student Loan (COISL) program under OSAP. The rate is defined as the number of borrowers who received COISL and were in default of the loan repayment obligations two years after ending their studies, divided by the total number of borrowers who received COISL and ended their studies in the same year.