TORONTO, August 30, 2006 -- York University welcomes today’s announcement by Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty of investment in programs to help young people become the first in their families to pursue higher education.
“York has one of the highest rates of first generation students in Ontario,” noted Dr. Lorna Marsden, President and Vice-Chancellor of York University. “Based on a sample survey last year, 43.3 per cent of our first- and fourth-year students told us that neither parent had attended university.”
The challenge of addressing the needs of the first generation goes beyond helping students once they enrol in university. “York has been at the forefront of creating outreach programs with the goal of engaging high school students and their parents in making the University a familiar part of their community,” said Paul Axelrod, Dean of the Faculty of Education. “This is accomplished through the placement of York-trained teacher candidates in area schools and the development of University Path Programs that help students realize their own abilities and allow students to experience campus life, to minimize the fear of the unknown.”
York’s University Path Programs involve elementary and secondary school students in programming that is aimed at making the University a familiar part of the community and reducing barriers to attending postsecondary education.
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York University is the leading interdisciplinary research and teaching university in Canada. York offers a modern, academic experience at the undergraduate and graduate level in Toronto, Canada’s most international city. The third largest university in the country, York is host to a dynamic academic community of 50,000 students and 7,000 faculty and staff, as well as 190,000 alumni worldwide. York’s 11 faculties and 23 research centres conduct ambitious, groundbreaking research that is interdisciplinary, cutting across traditional academic boundaries. This distinctive and collaborative approach is preparing students for the future and bringing fresh insights and solutions to real-world challenges. York University is an autonomous, not-for-profit corporation.
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For more information, please contact:
Alex Bilyk
Director, Media Relations
York University
416-736-5603
bilyk@yorku.ca
