Definitions & Notes

Count Date

Enrolment posted on the Institutional Analysis website is based on the University Statistical Enrolment Reports (USER) submitted to the Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities (MCU). Enrolment count dates in each term are:

• Fall: Nov. 1st
• Winter: Feb. 1st
• Spring (Intersession/Summer Session):
  • Graduate students: June 30th
  • Undergraduates registered in 12-Week courses: July 1st
  • Undergraduates registered separately in Intersession and/or Summer Session: midpoint of each session (e.g. 2019: Intersession June 1st, Summer July 14th)

Full and Part-Time Enrolment

Full-Time and Part-Time enrolment is available in both the dashboards and reports. This breakdown can be accessed through filters at the top of each dashboard. In reports, Full-Time enrolment is listed first, followed by Part-Time. Full-Time enrolment totals can be found in the middle of each report, following the Full-Time report. Part-Time totals can be found at the end of the document, following the Part-Time report.

Undergraduate Fiscal Full-Time Equivalent (FFTE)

The FFTE is represented by a student whose study load in the fiscal year is equal to the normal full-time study load for his/her program and level of registration in the academic year. An academic year consists of a period of studies normally comprising the months of September to April/May inclusive, or the equivalent. Using this definition, an undergraduate student taking a full load in both Fall and Winter will be 0.5 FTE for Fall and 0.5 FTE in Winter for a total of 1.0 FFTE.

Graduate Full-Time Equivalent (FTE)

Counting for graduate students is as follows: 1 full-time graduate student equals 1.0 FTE per term; 1 part-time graduate student equals 0.3 FTE per term in the Spring, Fall and Winter terms.

Academic Year

Most of the data on the Institutional Analysis website is reported by fiscal year rather than academic year. The fiscal year spans from the Spring term to the following Winter term. For example, the 2020/21 Fiscal Year includes Spring 2020, Fall 2020 and Winter 2021. The academic year consists of the Fall term, Winter term, and Spring-Summer term, in that order. The 2020/21 Academic Year includes Fall 2020, Winter 2021, and Spring-Summer 2021.

Summary Level

Dashboards generally provide data down to the Faculty and Department summary level. Reports by program, provide more granular enrolment data, down to the program level.

Counting Combined Majors and Joint Programs

Students are allocated to faculties/departments based on their programs. Students in single majors are allocated 100% to their home faculty, while those in combined majors and joint programs are allocated proportionally to the faculty/department of each major. For example, a student in Combined Psychology and Forensics is allocated 50% to the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (FAHSS) and 50% to the Faculty of Science. A student in the joint program, Honours Mathematics and Computer Science, is allocated 50% to Faculty of Science/Mathematics and Statistics and 50% to Faculty of Science/Computer Science. Please note this allocation method provides partial head counts in some of the reports.

Counting Double Degrees

Double degrees are allocated proportionally to each degree. MSW/JD is allocated 100% to the first degree, with students registering in either the MSW (FAHSS/Social Work) or the JD (Law) portion in different terms. Concurrent Education is allocated based on the student’s program for example: BA Psych (General)/BEd/ECE: 50% FAHSS and 50% Educ; BA/BEd: 60% FAHSS and 40% Educ. Please note this allocation method provides partial head counts in some of the reports.

Academic Level Terminology

Undergraduate students progress from Semester 1 through to Semester 8, usually requiring completion of one semester's worth of credits to advance to the next level. In the reports on this website, the semester designations have been abbreviated to SM plus the semester number (example, second semester academic level is abbreviated to SM2). Enrolment is then grouped by year level as follows:

• Year 1: SM1, SM2 and first year Law (levels LW1, LW2)
• Year 2: SM3, SM4 and second year Law (LW3, LW4)
• Year 3: SM5, SM6, third year Law (LW5, LW6), and Concurrent Education students in their first year of BEd (levels EDA, EDB)
• Year 4: SM7, SM8, and first year Consecutive Education (level ED1)
• Year 5: Second year Consecutive Education (ED2), and Concurrent Education students also in their second year of BEd (levels EDC, EDD)
• M1: Master Qualifying Year students (M1s) are included in their home faculties. M1s are reported to the Ministry as undergraduates, and are identified as “qualifying year” students, as outlined in the Ontario Operating Funds Distribution Manual. M1s are, therefore, counted as Undergraduates in reports on this website.

CO-OP Students on Work Term

Co-op students are required to register in their co-op work term course while on "work term", therefore these students are counted in USER reports for that semester.

Head Count Enrolment Timeline

This is a special report on Full or Part-Time enrolments at various intervals throughout the term, to visualize the trends in those enrolments. The two important dates in the Timeline reports are the Add/Drop date (the last date for late registration and change of courses) and the VW date (the last date for a voluntary withdrawal from a course). Timeline Reports also show a WD column (complete Withdrawal), which designates the number of students who were registered in courses by the Add/Drop date but were not registered in any courses by the VW date. Timeline reports are not based on USER reports.

Semester Enrolment Unit

Semester Enrolment Unit (SEU) measures enrolment by looking at course enrolments. One SEU is one student taking one regular (3.0 credit) course offering in one semester. 
SEU reports consider half and double weighted courses taught in one semester, as well as two-term courses. SEUs are calculated by multiplying the number of students registered in a course by the course weight, or Course Value. Course weights are assigned as follows:

• One student registered in a double course (6 credits) in one term has an SEU of 2.
• One student registered in a half course (1.5 credits) in one term has an SEU of 0.5.
• If a course spans two terms, the SEU value is divided by 2.
• If a course is taught in one term, the SEU value is equal to the Course Value.