ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors would like to acknowledge assistance received in the compilation of relevant statistical and analytical information from the Confederation of University Faculty Associations of BC, the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators of BC (formerly the College Institute Educators' Association), the Canadian Federation of Students, and the Canadian Association of University Teac [...] The content, opinions and any errors in this paper are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA. [...] It considers two aspects of operating funding: the amount of operating funding for students that are in the system; and the amount required to support greater capacity (the number of seats in the system). [...] Next, we review the data on provincial grants to post-secondary institutions, accounting for changes in the number of seats in the post-secondary system and for inflation. [...] With regard to public financing of the post-secondary system, we are interested in both the amount of funding for students in the system, and, because there are far fewer seats than potential students, the amount of funding that goes toward increasing capacity, or the number of seats in the system.

Most Canadian parents have had to assume a larger share of the financial costs of their children's post-secondary education because of declining government funding and changing loans and bursary programs. Preparing for Post-Secondary Education considers the impact of increased private support and the planning strategies parents use based on information from a 1999 Statistics Canada national survey of 34,000 households. The contributors begin by examining changes to national and international educational funding policies and the relationship between public and private costs. They focus on the role of families in marshaling the necessary resources, demonstrating that access to post-secondary education is also determined by social capital. The authors conclude that new partnerships between parents, the state, and schools are redefining the various players' roles and commitments to the educational futures of Canadian children. Contributors include the late Stephen Bell (York University), Scott Davies (McMaster University), Ross Finnie (Queen's University), George Frempong (York University), Dianne Looker (Acadia University), Nancy Mandell (York University), Sheila Marshall (University of British Columbia), Hans Schuetze (University of British Columbia), Victor Thiessen (Dalhousie University), Jim White (University of British Columbia), and Jamie Wood (University of British Columbia).