Career Colleges Are Bridges To University And College
Tue, 09/13/2016 - 06:26

BC and Alberta are the only two provinces in Canada that have set up a system that allows students registered at career colleges, including private career colleges, the opportunity to transfer easily to a traditional college and for students at a traditional college to transfer to a university. Students can also transfer directly to university from a career college or from one university to another.

This structure is particularly appealing to students who come from other countries and must become more proficient in English before they can seek colleges or university degrees.

It also appeals to students who prefer to start out at the college level because they are on a tight budget, or whose academic background is less than stellar, or who want to assure themselves that they can pass college courses, or who must continue to work while attending a post-secondary institution. 

The Career College System is Designed to Make Transferring Easy

In BC and Alberta, the career college system is designed to be a pathway to traditional college or university if that is what the student wants. Students, therefore, have greater flexibility than anywhere else in the country in terms of where and how they achieve their education and how far they want to take it.

Credit for some courses at a career college can be transferred directly to Langara College, say, or Vancouver Community College, or to other traditional colleges. The programs at traditional colleges grant college degrees or can serve as stepping stones to the University of BC (UBC) or Simon Fraser University(SFU)  or to Kwantlan Polytechnic University, or to various private universities.

UBC and SFU and other degree-granting institutions hold spaces open for students coming from colleges to take their third and fourth years at the university level. Traditional colleges have programs that supply equivalent courses offered by UBC and SFU and other universities in the first two years, and many students who want university degrees start out at a college. You can also transfer between degree-granting institutions if you realize that you prefer a particular program offered elsewhere.

What Need Does A Private Career College Serve?

If you want to work at a job that doesn’t require further training than what is offered at a private career college, you can start your job as soon as you have completed your training, which can take six months, a year, or two years.

A career college is also a very important step for any student whose mother tongue is not English and students can take and repeat English courses until they are fluent enough to prove their mastery of the language to work in Canada or to take their studies to the next level at a traditional college or a university.

Why Do Students Choose a Private Career College After Secondary School?

Aside from students who are uncertain about their fluency in English or their ability to pass courses at the college level, there are students who find a haven in a private career college for other reasons:

  1. Easier Acceptance – Unlike universities, colleges accept people who do not have a proven record of academic success. Career colleges recognize that people can arrive at college determined to work hard and succeed and those qualities are more important than past achievements. All colleges accept students with lower grades than universities will. 
  1. Less Expensive – The tuition is much less expensive than at a university, and students don’t have to take on a great debt load to acquire a degree. 
  1. Smaller Classes – Small classes are characteristic of colleges, particularly career colleges, which means students have the opportunity to interact with other students, participate in discussions, and can get personal help from instructors much more easily. 
  1. Flexible Schedules and Start Dates – Universal Learning Institute in the greater Vancouver area is a career college that allows students to start their studies almost every month of the year, and will make an effort to adapt a program to suite a student’s work and family life.

BC prides itself on being one of only two provinces with an education system that allows students to transfer easily from career colleges to traditional colleges and to universities. The student’s needs really are at the heart of education in BC.

Creative Commons Attribution: Permission is granted to repost this article in its entirety with credit to the Universal Learning Institute and a clickable link back to this page.

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