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British Columbia
British Columbia (French: la Colombie-Britannique) is the westernmost of province of Canada. It is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, "Splendor sine occasu" ("Splendour without Diminishment"). In 1871, it became the sixth province of Canada.
In 2009, British Columbia had an estimated population of 4,419,974 (about two million of whom were in Metro Vancouver).
The capital of British Columbia is Victoria, the 15th largest metropolitan region in Canada. The largest city is Vancouver, the third-largest metropolitan area in Canada and the second-largest in the Pacific Northwest.
For more details see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Columbia
Education
Schools
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Higher Education
(sourced from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higher_education_in_British_Columbia)
Higher education in British Columbia is delivered by 25 publicly funded institutions that are composed of
- 11 universities
- 11 colleges, and
- 3 institutes.
This is in addition to three private universities, five private colleges, and six theological colleges.
There are also an extensive number of private career institutes and colleges.
Approximately 433,000 people were enrolled in public post-secondary institutions in BC in 2006-2007. More than 17,250 identified themselves as Aboriginal and approximately 10,558 were international students. In the 2006-2007 year, 15,538 registrations took place through BCcampus,[3] a "virtual post-secondary institution" that handles the online learning options for most of British Columbia’s post-secondary institutions.
Each of the province's post-secondary institutions sets its own admission requirements. Generally, successful graduation from high school, with the required academic prerequisites, is needed for admission to programs. Special consideration may be given to mature applicants, Aboriginal peoples, and people with disabilities. The Post Secondary Application Service of British Columbia (PASBC) assists people seeking admission to the institutions and is a system-wide application portal.
In British Columbia, public post-secondary institutions have responsibility for establishing tuition fees for both domestic and international students. Tuition fees vary across specific programme areas, and detailed information on tuition rates is available from each institution directly. The average tuition for domestic students paid by undergraduate students in 2006-07 was $4,636, which is claimed to be the fourth-lowest in Canada. Domestic students are defined as both Canadian citizens and Permanent Residents.
Foreign and International students were required the unsubsidized cost of training, which could total as much as three to five times the tuition fees paid by domestic students.
There is an extensive list of private institutes and colleges accredited by either the Private Career Training Institutions Agency (PCTIA) or the BC Career Colleges Association.