TORONTO, September 25, 2024 – By making educational data transparent and accessible through the Open Data Platform, Ontario’s universities are leading the way in transparency. Housed on the Ontario’s Universities website, this centralized data hub, which provides public access to critical education data, recently won the 2024 Information and Privacy Commissioner (IPC) Transparency Challenge in recognition of its work to support transparency and accountability across the province’s universities.
The platform includes in-depth access to key resources and data, such as:
- the Common University Data Ontario (CUDO) tool, which offers detailed information on enrolment, degrees granted and graduation rates;
- the Council of Ontario Finance Officers (COFO) tool, which provides detailed financial data and institutional financial statements;
- the Multi-Year Data series, which includes information on applications, enrolment, funding and student outcomes;
- the Ontario Universities’ Application Centre (OUAC), which compiles application and confirmation statistics for various programs; and
- the Council of Ontario Universities (COU) data reports, which leverage university, provincial and other data to inform its policy recommendations and fulfill accountability commitments.
This innovative platform helps increase public knowledge of university operations, resulting in a more engaged community. By making university data transparent and accessible, students, government and other stakeholders are empowered to make informed decisions, address skills gaps, support economic growth and drive improvement in Ontario’s educational landscape.
Learn more about the platform by watching the video below:
In an episode of the Info Matters podcast, hosted by Patricia Kosseim, Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, Council of Ontario Universities President and CEO Steve Orsini, and Director of Policy and Planning Joshua Lovell discussed how transparency and open data can drive positive change in education.
“Sharing this information has opened up whole new partnerships that we would never have imagined. We post information on student graduation rates by program and employment rates by program, so we’re getting employers and students looking at this information to see where the trends are going. And this has really opened up new dialogue with government and with our community partners,” says Steve Orsini, President and CEO, Council of Ontario Universities on S4-Episode 7: The beauty and benefits of transparency: Ontario’s public institutions rise to the challenge with innovative projects.
Listen to the Info Matters podcast episode here (interview starts at 2:27 and ends at 13:14).
Learn more about how Ontario’s universities are committed to transparency, empowering students, policymakers, and the public with accessible, open data to drive informed decisions and foster trust in education by visiting: ontariosuniversities.ca/open-data