Bachelor of Commerce (Digital Marketing) - Postsecondary ...

The Community Case for Fanshawe College’s Proposed Business Degrees
As a majority of Internal and External Stakeholders noted, the offering of business degree programs
would help position Fanshawe College as an accessible and affordable option for students in the
Southwestern Ontario region. They underlined that the high standards of admission and high tuition
costs of the Richard Ivey School of Business are often cited as barriers to accessibility for many local
students.
“I see it as a tremendous opportunity to better support post‐secondary opportunities for students
in our region. There is a demand for degree programs in business. A lot of our students do not
have access to the University of Western Ontario, which is our home university... and our home
students are really disadvantaged by the high entrance marks required by UWO, and our
students are even more disadvantaged coming from a lot of small communities, Woodstock,
Simcoe, in accessing a degree program in business.” (Fanshawe College Stakeholder)
“Price will make us attractive. We are located in a city with a university with a strong reputation
and they just can’t accept [all] the students that want to attend university in this community. We
are hoping that our entry requirements will be just slightly lower than theirs. We’re hoping that
students from London won’t have to leave the city to get a business degree.” (Fanshawe College
Stakeholder)
“Not everyone can afford university. Not everyone wants to go away for that long. The
mandatory co‐op is great, and there is a need for the instructors with industry experience. It
opens the door for people who can’t get into university.”(Employer)
“This gives more opportunities for people raised in London to go to school at home if they can't
get into Western.”(Employer)
Importantly, the business degree offerings would be beneficial to the community as a whole, in light of
the transformation and rebuilding of the economy from its traditional manufacturing and agricultural
base in Southwestern Ontario. Most importantly, many Employers were enthusiastic about the idea of
producing business graduates who would continue to stay in the city. The economic cost of students
passing through has been a continuing issue for the city and the University of Western Ontario.
“Ivey is not an easy school to get into. There are a lot of local people interested in business
degrees who may not be able to get into Ivey. Very few Ivey grads plan to work in London. I think
there will be demand for grads of these degrees” (Employer).
“I rarely see UWO grads come through my door as applicants. They go to school in London and
then they leave. College grads tend to be from the area and they stay in town.” (Employer)
“Because of our challenges regionally, high unemployment, changing nature of the economic
unemployment sector will be one of the chief engines for attempting to recast the employment
base of this region. SW Ontario is not going to renew the auto industry. The area needs to
transform itself. It needs to wean itself from easy reliable manufacturing. We need to be offering
more pathways to higher education to our region right away. The traditional university model
will not necessarily meet all the needs that are going to emerge out there in this new economy.”
(Fanshawe College Stakeholder)
LKSB Degree Program Feasibility Study • 2011
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