Universities battle U.S. brain drain

Canadian schools launch aggressive ad campaigns to lure U.S. students and boost enrolment, Bruce Ward reports.

File Photo / The University of Guelph chose a more unconventional approach to promoting academic life in Canada -- with brochures featuring toque-wearing students that advertise the Great White North and the low cost of tuition.

With spirited U.S. recruitment campaigns ranging from the chic to the cheeky, Canadian universities are out to reverse the brain drain.

Touting attractions such as the low Canadian dollar, quality education and safe campuses, almost all of Canada's 90 universities are aggressively marketing themselves to American students.

Going after American students is simply smart business, says Nathalie Pare, the University of Ottawa's liaison officer for international students.

Until the 1990s, Canadian universities, generously funded by the provinces, were bursting with students. Now, enrolment is flat and universities are facing financial pressure because provinces reduced funding by 21 per cent between 1991 and 1997.

The weak dollar is making Canadian universities a smart alternative for U.S. students, even though foreign students pay higher fees than Canadians.

Tuition at big-name universities such as Princeton can cost close to $30,000 U.S. per year.

At Montreal's McGill University -- perhaps as reputable as Princeton -- tuition for American students costs less than $10,000 U.S. a year.

This spring, McGill teamed up with the University of Toronto and Queen's University in Kingston for a "Canadian Ivy" tour of education fairs across the border.

The campaign was aimed at students also being wooed by U.S. Ivy League schools, such as Harvard and Yale.

The University of Ottawa has been making the pitch at education fairs in New York, Chicago and San Francisco.

Ms. Pare recently showed off U of O's attractions to a guidance counsellor from Granite Bay High School ("Home of the Grizzlies") near Sacramento in northern California.

Ms. Pare said he liked what he saw, as have other American counsellors who have come to check out the possibilities for their senior students.

"They're skeptical at first, but it's an easy sell, after they see the campus and the city," she says, adding that the bilingual ambience is also a selling point.

Then there's the University of Guelph's somewhat unconventional approach to promoting the Great White North.

Last year, the university mailed 58,000 tongue-in-cheek brochures to U.S. high school students On the cover, a toque-wearing student peers out from the hood of a parka to ask: "So you think you know Canada, eh?"

Flip open the booklet, and a caption shouts "Well É think again.

"We're here to tell you that there's more to Canada than ice fishing, winter woollens and Royal Canadian Mounties! At Canada's University of Guelph, you can be part of a world-class, international learning experience on a beautiful campus -- at a cost that will astonish you."

The cheeky campaign is working, says Mary Haggarty, international admissions co-ordinator at the University of Guelph.

"The number of American students has doubled each year for the past two years," she says.

About 3,300 Americans attended university in Canada in 1997-98, Statistics Canada figures show. That's a 15.5-per-cent increase over the past two years.

This brain drain in reverse is still a small stream. Far more Canadians -- about 23,000 -- study in the Unites States.

This exodus costs Canada about $460 million in lost tuition and living expenses, according to a Department of Foreign Affairs estimate.

But Canadian schools are determined to redress the balance.

And the rising numbers of Americans on Canadian campuses is a welcome trend, says Sally Brown, senior vice-president of the Ottawa-based Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada.

"I think this is good news, and it's reflective of the savvy marketing campaigns by Canadian universities."

Ms. Brown says the Canadian Embassy in Washington, assisted by Foreign Affairs, is reaching out to high school guidance counsellors in the U.S.

The embassy has set up a Web site (www.studyincanada.com) that contains facts about facilities, cost, admissions requirements and a list of all programs for each university.

Guelph's Ms. Haggarty notes that cost is not the only selling point for Canadian universities -- far from it.

"It's a combination of factors, not just the cost.

"Middle-class parents won't skimp when it comes to university education for their children. They want quality. The quality of the programs has to be there, too."

For example, Ms. Haggarty says, the university's brochure caught the attention of one New Jersey teenager now studying environmental sciences at Guelph.

"Both of her parents work at Princeton University, so she could have gone there for free.

"But Princeton's earth science program is only two years old, the program here is 20 years old. She looked into it, and decided to come to Guelph."

Multiculturalism is also a strong selling point for Canadian universities, she says.

"Canada is heterogeneous, and that's very, very appealing in some border states. Canada's universities are cosmopolitian, yet just a few hours down the road. That makes for a good experience for American students.

When it comes to attracting Americans, Quebec does best by a wide margin. One of every three American students in Canada attended a Quebec university in 1997-98, according to Statistics Canada figures.

McGill led all universities, with an enrolment of 933 Americans.

Overall, the University of British Columbia was second, with 455 American students, and the University of Toronto third, with 371.

The University of Ottawa is 12th on the list, with 63 American students attending last year.

Carleton University had only 15 students from the U.S. -- putting it 31st on the list, and tied with the University of Guelph.

"Canada is making its mark," says Ms. Pare of the University of Ottawa. "We're raising consciousness."

The transition is easy for American students coming to Canada, trumpets the University of Guelph's brochure.

"The people are friendly. The food is fantastic and the language is the same."

Except for that eh É