Attend university at the college

College of the Rockies offers dual admission with the University of Victoria and the University of Lethbridge

by Marie Milner — February 18, 2016

Dr. Catherine Mateer (UVic) and Dr. Stan Chung (College of the Rockies) sign two new partnership agreements as (L-R) deans of instruction Heather Hepworth and Darrell Bethune, director of student affairs Doris Silva and dean of instruction Jack Moes look on. — Photo courtesy College of the Rockies

“The dual admission agreements that we have signed with University of Victoria (UVic) and University of Lethbridge (ULethbridge) are very exciting for us,” said Heather Jackson, manager of communications and marketing at College of the Rockies. “We’ve had the agreement with ULethbridge for a year, and we signed with UVic in December 2015.”

Representatives from ULethbridge and UVic will be attending the 2016 Career & Job Fair at College of the Rockies during the afternoon of March 9. They will happily provide information about the new dual admission agreements, whereby students can apply to the universities and attend university classes right here in Cranbrook. Students are encouraged to consult with an education advisor at College of the Rockies before they commit to a program.

With dual admission, a student applies to the college and one of the universities. When accepted, the student is considered to be attending both the college and the university. One of the benefits for students is that they can access all of the amenities from the university, like scholarship opportunities, education counselling and other services.

College of the Rockies offers first- and second-year university arts and sciences courses. Those courses are the foundation for about 100 programs at UVic and somewhat fewer programs—though still a significant number—at ULethbridge.

“The courses the students take here are equivalent to the courses they would take at UVic or ULethbridge, but the cost here is much less,” said Jackson. “Students whose homes are in Cranbrook can save $10,000 to $20,000 in tuition and housing costs over the two years. Classes are much smaller here and students get much more one-on-one time with the instructors. When students move to the university in their third year, their courses transfer seamlessly. They don’t need to reapply—they just register and start their third year.”

Data collected on students who complete their first two years at College of the Rockies before moving on to university verify that in the majority of cases they do better than students who go directly to university from high school—it’s a much easier transition and a fantastic opportunity for students.

An article published recently in Kootenay Business magazine confirms the value of post-secondary education that begins at College of the Rockies. In part, the article states the following:

“In 2015, the British Columbia Council on Admissions and Transfer (BCCAT) reported that 85 per cent of College of the Rockies students who transferred to university completed their degree, the highest graduation rate among transfer institutions in the province. College of the Rockies students also tend to achieve high grades after they transfer. At UBC Vancouver, College of the Rockies ranked first in terms of the graduating grade-point-average of its transfer students; it was also in the top five at Simon Fraser University and the University of Victoria.”

We fully expect that students who participate in the dual admissions program will have equally stellar results.