Study explores student debt

Authors: Linda Pannozzo, Karen Hayward and Ronald Colman

Assisted by: Vanessa Hayward

"Education Indicators for the Nova Scotia Genuine Progress Index: How Educated Are Nova Scotians?" explores what is meant by an educated populace, how that can be measured, and whether Canadians have the knowledge required to create a healthy, wise, and sustainable society. Ideally, evidence of positive learning outcomes should be seen in desirable societal outcomes such as good health, equity, environmental stewardship, cultural diversity, and social wellbeing.

Specifically, this new GPIAtlantic report includes important information and trends in basic literacy, civic literacy, and ecological literacy, access to education (including student debt and tuition), the independence of university research, and financing of public education. The report also examines the inadequacy of conventional education indicators like graduation and drop-out rates, and the need for new indicators of educational attainment that assess how educated and knowledgeable the populace actually is. A comprehensive list of potential education indicators has been developed to provide examples of the types of indicators that can be used to create a broader and more meaningful assessment of knowledge and learning outcomes in the populace than is presently possible, along with descriptions of some of the best measurement tools currently available in these areas.