Despite a struggling farm economy and shrinking rural population, enrolment in agriculture programs at western Canadian universities is more than holding its own.
The agriculture degree programs at the universities of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta are all structured differently, making direct comparisons difficult.
However, officials at all three institutions say they’re pleased with enrolment levels for 2003-04, in light of the struggling farm economy and the impact of droughts and bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
Not only do financial woes make it more difficult for farm-based students to come up with tuition funds, they also make agriculture appear less attractive as a career option.
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“It always concerns us when there’s something going on in the world that might lead students to say ‘agriculture is not a viable way to make a living’, ” said Anne Naeth, associate dean for academics at the University of Alberta’s department of agriculture, food and nutritional science.
Harold Bjarnason, dean of the faculty of agricultural and food science at the University of Manitoba, said agriculture educators have been working hard to improve agriculture’s image among potential students.
“In a lot of people’s minds the perception has been that it’s a dying industry,” he said. It is a perception he described as false.
“In our faculty we found that we weren’t turning out enough students to meet the demand from industry and government for positions.”
At the Prairies’ biggest agriculture college at the University of Saskatchewan, 164 students have enrolled in the first year of the four-year degree program, up from 162 last year. The two-year diploma program, which provides more technical and less academic training, has 43 students, up from 42.
Total enrolment for all four years of the degree program is 512, down from 567 a year ago.
Bob Tyler, associate dean for academics at the college, said he is “quite pleased” with those numbers given the tough times on the farm.
All three institutions also have to deal with the fact that every year fewer high school students graduate from rural areas.
“Our traditional pool for students is from farms or at least small towns, and that pool is shrinking, so it’s a challenge,” said Tyler, adding that active recruitment programs are vital. “We can’t just passively sit and let students come in. Those days are gone.”
One factor offsetting that shrinking pool is an increased interest in agriculture among females. In 2002, 56 percent of the ag degree students at the U of S were female, along with about 15 percent of the diploma students.
“The influx of females has been crucial to our enrolment in recent years,” said Tyler.
At the U of A, there are 212 students enrolled in the two agriculture degree programs, up from 189 last year. That includes 187 in the basic ag degree and 35 studying for a degree in agriculture and food business management.
Another 100 are registered in what is called pre-veterinary medicine, up from 87. About a dozen of those students will eventually transfer to the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon.
Naeth said the increase reflects several factors: a stepped-up recruitment program among high school students focusing on the variety of careers in agriculture; new agreements enabling students at other post-secondary institutions like Olds and Lakeland colleges to transfer to the U of A after two years; expanded internship programs with agriculture businesses and scholarships and other financial awards.
She said the college is also making an effort to offer programs in areas that aren’t directly related to farming, such as food safety, nutrition and the environment, in the hopes of attracting those from non-farm backgrounds.
“As long as we continue to focus our programs on the continuity of agriculture as a way of life and as a necessity for the world we live in, that’s the message we try to get across to attract students,” she said.
After several years of declining enrolment, the U of M’s agriculture faculty has seen a turnaround this year.
The introductory agriculture course offered to all first year students attracted 139 registrants, up from 90 last year. Of that total, 94 are actually registered in agriculture, up from 60 a year ago.
Bjarnason said the department has been working with industry and government to get the word out to high school students that even if they’re not interested in farming, there are lots of good career opportunities with financial institutions, farm input manufacturers, grain companies and agencies, consultants and government.
