Université du Québec à Montréal

The Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) is the largest constituent element of the Université du Québec (UQ), a public university system with other branches in Gatineau (an Ottawa suburb), Rimouski, Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec City, Chicoutimi, and Trois-Rivières.

With the recent absorption of the Télé-université, it now has a major departmental-level e-learning initiative.

UQAM was founded on April 9, 1969 by the government of Quebec, through the merger of the École des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, a fine arts school; the Collège Sainte-Marie, a classical college; and a number of smaller schools. Although part of the UQ network, UQAM possesses a relative independence which allows it to print its own diplomas and choose its rector.

In 2004, UQAM had a student population of 42,257 in six faculties (Arts, Education, Literature, Language and Communications, Political Science and Law, Science, and Social science) and one school (Management). It offers Bachelors, Masters, and Doctoral degrees. It is one of Montreal's two French-language universities, along with the Université de Montréal, and only 1% of its student population is Anglophone.

With the addition of the Télé-université in June 2005, UQAM, with a current student population of about 60,000, is the largest French-speaking university in the world.

Its web site is at http://www.uqam.ca/