The Urgency of Postsecondary Education for Aboriginal Peoples

Canada has an unprecedented need to increase the number of Aboriginal peoples who undertake and complete postsecondary programs. Endorsing postsecondary education for Aboriginal peoples advocates an invigorating, fortifying future for Aboriginal peoples, their families, and their communities. Additionally, the postsecondary educational achievements of Aboriginal peoples support the health and sustainability of the Canadian nation; spearheaded by Western Canada’s current economic prosperity, human resources supplied by Aboriginal peoples have become increasingly important. Captured herein are demographic, social, educational, and economic trends reinforcing the rationale that Aboriginal peoples urgently need to be provided with greater opportunities to succeed in postsecondary education. Promoting the spiritual, emotional, physical, and academic wellbeing of Aboriginal peoples requires improvements to and sustainability of postsecondary educational opportunities for Aboriginal peoples. The attainment of higher levels of education is related to an improved standard of living, as exemplified through greater employment satisfaction, higher incomes, improved health, and longevity of life (Sloane-Seale, Wallace, & Levin, 2004). Consequently, Stonechild (2006) identified higher education as the new buffalo, crucial to the modern-day survival of Aboriginal peoples. Although the number of Aboriginal peoples who are attending Acknowledgement is warmly extended to the Saskatchewan Ministry of Education (First Nations and Méti