Once again this year, the college network is full of students. In Quebec, Cégep Limoilou knows the highest increase in customers as you approach the start of the school year, also marked by budgetary restrictions.
Nearly 5,400 Cégépiens will set foot there when returning to class scheduled for Friday. This is an increase of 8% compared to last year, “the highest increase in ten years,” said Anne-Marie Jolicoeur, director of communications at Cégep Limoilou.
The demographic increase as well as recruitment efforts in secondary schools located near the establishment can explain this increase, which is mainly felt in pre-university programs, she adds.
Despite this increase, the establishment still has room to welcome more students.
On the South Shore, the Cégep de Lévis also experiences strong growth, with an increase in registrations of 7% similar to that of last year, which forced the establishment to show creativity.
“Our teams worked very hard to be able to welcome all the students enrolled this year,” said one in a written response.
Work has notably been carried out this summer to transform certain premises into a classroom.
At Cégep Garneau, the number of students will increase by 3% this year, while it remains stable at the Cégep de Sainte-Foy, which is already at the maximum capacity since last year.
At the provincial scale, the early increase this year is 4%, said by press release the Minister of Higher Education, Pascale Déry, who is delighted.
Budget restrictions
However, this increase occurs in a context of budgetary restrictions imposed by Quebec, which force the CEGEPs to make “historical compressions”, according to the federation which represents them.
At Cégep Garneau, the shortfall represents $ 3 million this year, but almost all jobs have been maintained, it is said.
For its part, Cégep Limoilou has postponed work and the purchase of equipment, which made it possible to limit the impacts on the students, indicates Ms. Jolicoeur. “We optimized the tasks and ways of doing things,” she says.
For her part, Minister Déry recognizes that “the current context requires additional effort” on the part of the establishments, while encouraging them to use part of their surpluses “to mitigate this period of changes”.
Number of students in CEGEPs in the Quebec region
Limoilou: 5400 (+8%)
Lévis: 3350 (+7%)
Garneau: 6500 (+3%)
Sainte-Foy : 7000 (stable)
Number of students in the college network: 162,500 (+4%)
