For the first time in 15 years, there are fewer new high school grads at Ontario campuses this fall and programs that focus on the liberal arts are among the hardest hit.

According to the Ontario Universities Application Centre, enrolment is down by 2.9 per cent at universities and 3.5 per cent at community colleges this year over last.

Deborah MacLatchy is the Vice-President Academic at Wilfrid Laurier University, which has seen between a 10 and 15 per cent drop in students signing up for liberal arts degrees this year compared to last year.

"The universities have to do a better job of making sure that parents, provincial employers and society as a whole really understand the value of an arts degree and not focus on a program that is going to be a direct entry to an entry-level job," said MacLatchy.

"We continue to need to communicate to students the real value of an arts degree. However I think students today are really focused on business, science programs, nursing programs, etc."

MacLatchy says the school is meeting its targets for business and science programs, but overall enrolment is down five per cent from last year.