Media Release
September 4, 2019
(Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, Ont.) -- This fall, First Nations Technical Institute is expecting unprecedented student enrolment, with confirmations up by over 50 per cent.
“We are absolutely thrilled to be welcoming one of the largest student cohorts we’ve ever seen,” said Adam Hopkins, vice-president of enrolment management and student services. “Our substantial enrolment growth should truly be credited to our entire team, whom we thank wholeheartedly for their hard work and dedication.”
FNTI is tracking an increase of 72 per cent in its college programs – Early Childhood Education, First Peoples’ Aviation Technology – Flight, Mental Health and Addiction Worker, and Social Service Worker. Its university programs – Bachelor of Arts Public Administration and Governance, Bachelor of Social Work, Professional Master of Public Administration and Master of Social Work – are also reporting very strong student retention.
Hopkins says that FNTI has created a truly student-centred approach to responsive post-secondary education, whereby courses are delivered in an intensive delivery model approximately one week every month. Indigenous students live and learn the importance of Indigenous Knowledge, as well as Indigenous ways of knowing and understanding the world, while also meeting mainstream vocational learning outcomes and employability skills.
“Our deliberately concentrated delivery method allows learners to maintain connections to family and community while they study,” said Hopkins. “This means that students can stay more grounded and rooted in their existing support structures, which in turn translates into higher student success rates.”
In the 2018-2019 academic year, the FNTI graduation rate was 93 per cent and the employment rate was 98 per cent.
Programming will be delivered in sites across Ontario in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, Cochrane, Kingston, Kitchener, London, Oneida, Rama Sarnia and Toronto this year.
FNTI serves 172 of 667 First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities across Canada, and 102 of 129 in Ontario. The institute welcomes approximately 300 students annually, who range from 18 to 70+ years of age and come from Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, Inuit, Métis and Mi’kmaq descent.
The First Nations Technical Institute (FNTI) is an Indigenous-owned and governed postsecondary institute founded in programming rooted in Indigegogy and Indigenous ways of knowing. FNTI is a registered charitable organization, accredited by the World Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium (WINHEC,) and a member of Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan). FNTI has over 3,000 graduates with certificate, diploma and degree credentials issued in partnership with recognized Ontario colleges and universities and will begin the delivery of standalone bachelor’s degrees in 2020 in accordance with the Indigenous Institute Act, 2017.
For more information, please contact:
Jessica Charette
Director of Marketing, Recruitment and Community Partnerships
613.813.6893
