GETTING TO POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION: A COMMUNITY INITIATIVE PROMOTING ACCESS AND SUCCESS FOR UNDERREPRESENTED STUDENTS IN CANADA

Increasing access to, and graduation from, post-secondary education in Canada is an important national priority. While an international leader in overall educational attainment; at current post-secondary participation rates, Canada will soon lack the highly skilled workers necessary to keep pace with retirement levels and meet anticipated growth demands of the increasingly knowledge-based and globalized economy.
In light of the extensive body of research on the impact of post-secondary education, and in keeping aligned with the YMCA mission to promote access to post-secondary education in Canada; the Canadian Post-Secondary Access Partnership (CPSAP) was created.
The model that CPSAP has established across Canada has two main components: the Practitioners Network and the You Can Go centres (community – based delivery sites). The two components are closely interrelated and cover a wide spectrum of services to both practitioners and students.

While there are some notable community-based programs aimed at helping students graduate high school, CPSAP is unique in its focus on helping young people and adults gain access to go beyond high school to one of the various post secondary educational streams Canada has to offer.

This presentation will also include a description of two successful tools used by CPSAP:
• Gap Analysis Toolkit (tool used for determining the post-secondary access and success climate in the area being surveyed)
• Graduate Pursuit Game (tool used by practitioners to deliver the Post Secondary Education message to students)

The presentation will also provide an overview of the Canadian Post Secondary Education context for underrepresented students, challenges, best practices and successes. We are hoping that the presentation will inspire attendees to establish similar initiatives that will build community capacity, with the ultimate goal of achieving educational success.

The model used in Canada for reaching underrepresented students can be used / applied in other countries for reaching underrepresented students.