Academic Reform provides realistic policy options for improving the quality and cost-effectiveness of undergraduate education in Ontario. The authors begin with the premise that the teacher-scholar ideal pursued by individual universities has led to a model for undergraduate education in Ontario that is financially unsustainable and does not provide the best possible education for undergraduate students. Drawing on literature and recent policy initiatives in the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, United States, and Canada, the authors show how to provide high-quality education to an ever-expanding number of students at a cost that is affordable to both students and governments.

Academic Reform explores ways to sharpen the universities' focus on undergraduate teaching and increase the number of students without diminishing Ontario's ability to attract and retain university researchers of the highest calibre.