Considering Canada?

If you’re looking for a unique college or university experience, why not head north?

Going to Canada for college or university can mean an international experience without having to go abroad—and where you can still speak English.

But don’t assume that your postsecondary school experience in Canada will be the same as your friends’ in the States.

How are the education systems different?
• The provinces are in control
Each of Canada’s 10 provinces and three territories manages its own educational system. Each system includes private, religiously affiliated and public schools. Unlike in the U.S., which has federal regulations for schools, Canada’s provinces maintain the control.
“The provincial systems vary slightly but are basically similar to one another and to the U.S, system,” says Glen Ashworth, Marketing and Communications Manager for the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada.

• The lingo’s different
In Canada, “college” typically refers to a two-year school; colleges award diplomas and certificates. If you want a degree like you would earn at a four-year college in the States, you’ll go to a “university.” The terms are not interchangeable in Canada, as they are in the U.S.
Also in Canada, they don’t use the terms “freshman,” “sophomore,” “junior” or “senior.” Instead, high schoolers are in grade 9, 10, 11 or grade 12. And postsecondary students are called first, second, third or fourth years.

• You can study in French or English
In Canada, you can take classes in French—or go to a French-language university and speak it all the time.

What is the same?
• College credit transfers
Canadian colleges, like community colleges in the States, are less expensive than universities. Bruce Wilson of Fanshawe College in London, Ontario, says college programs run about $8,500 to $12,000 Canadian for international students; a university will cost about $15,000 to $20,000 Canadian.

If you choose the Canadian college route, you’ll find that you can transfer those credits to a four-year degree later if you want.

“Most colleges in Canada have articulation agreements with Canadian universities that provide direct credit transfer towards a four-year university degree,” Wilson says.

Jamie Leigh Hoke from Bloomfield, Mich., earned a diploma from Fanshawe College and a bachelor’s degree in media information and technoculture at the University of Western Ontario.
“My internship employer has offered me a full-time job here in Canada, which is fantastic,” Hoke says.

• Many kinds of campuses
Just like you’ll find a ton of different teaching styles, campus types and majors at schools in the States, you’ll find similar diversity among Canada’s colleges and universities.

Why go?
“For students, the cost and affordability continues to be attractive to Americans with the exchange rate,” Ashworth says. “Canada’s standard of living is also known to be one of the best in the world, and we have a multicultural and bilingual society. Students can come to Canada for a study abroad experience in a ‘different yet familiar’ setting close to home.”

Web sites to help you study in Canada
• www.canadianembassy.org/studyincanada
• www.livelearnandsucceed.gc.ca
• www.aucc.ca
• www.cic.gc.ca
• www.immigration-quebec.gouv.qc.ca
• www.ouac.on.ca
• www.alis.gov.ab.ca
• www.pas.bc.ca
• www.aucc.ca

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Considering Canada?

If you’re looking for a unique college or university experience, why not head north?

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