Total spending on higher education by all levels of government has increased over the past decade, but a "more dramatic" change is how governments are spending the money, says the Millennium Scholarship Foundation of Canada. In a new report, it says an ever-growing share of government funding is going to individuals and a diminishing proportion to institutions.

For universities, one of the more interesting revelations in Prime Minister Paul Martin's reply to the Speech from the Throne was his announcement of a new independent agency, the Canadian Academies of Science, with funding of $35 million over the next 10 years. In fact, the not-for-profit Canadian Academies of Science has already been incorporated.

The upward climb in university enrolment continues to surpass expectations, with full-time undergraduate enrolment up 3. 6 percent this fall over last year, according to preliminary estimates by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada.

Alberta's universities joined together in a forceful advocacy campaign aimed at increasing the profile of university education in provincial spending priorities. The Alberta government, after retiring its provincial debt earlier this summer to much fanfare, commissioned a province-wide survey asking citizens how they want to reallocate the funds from the ever-growing surplus.

More than a year after the Canadian Council on Animal Care made a significant portion of its training material freely available on its Web site, the organization has found a ready market for the material as far away as South America. The Web site (www.

Social science and humanities researchers were disappointed and angry but not surprised after a Sept. 24 article in the Ottawa Citizen reported that the federal government "handed out $86 million yesterday for a host of exotic university research projects" and singled out six for special attention based on odd-sounding titles.

Canada has the largest share of the population with at least some form of postsecondary education compared to other countries, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The latest OECD report on education indicators says 43 percent of Canadians aged 25 to 64 have taken postsecondary studies, almost double the OECD average of 23 percent.