Helpful Findings

• In 2017, the tertiary educational institutions in Canada on average allocated $697,961 of their operational budgets to career services, among 45 institutions. The maximal budget for large institutions could reach $5 million. The average investment per student ranged between $20 and $50. The operational budget amount included staff salary, space, services and IT spending, among others. Moreover, the average digital promotional budget was $6,281 and the maximal spend was $40,000, among 37 institutions.
• Since the recession induced by the financial crisis in 2008, the colleges and universities in the US have reduced their budgets for career services by 11.4% between 2009 and 2017.
• According to research by the Whether by Better Weekdays in 2019, the operating budget on career services at US universities has been on average $34,000. Career services have only reached 52% of students.
• In the US, private universities have been better equipped with IT infrastructure and staff than public universities, as the latter is often constrained by the IT budget. Private universities have had higher spending on IT than public ones. On average, 4.2% of institutional spending was attributed to IT expenses in 2015 (For more details, a PowerPoint file is downloadable on the page).
• According to Gartner's research in 2019, career software, such as career management or development tools, is expected to see significant growth in the future, as higher educational institutions, such as universities, have become increasingly accountable to students' employment prospects after their graduation.
• The global IT spending by career centres at colleges and universities was $6.6 billion in 2015, which is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.1% between 2016 and 2020.