University Transfer
First And Second Year
At Columbia College, all university-level courses are part of the Associate Degree program. Students, known as University Transfer (UT) students, often choose to transfer to another institution before completing their Associate Degree. This pathway allows them to start their first and second-year university studies in a supportive environment before moving to a larger university for further studies.
Transfer credits for university courses completed at Columbia College are pre-arranged with British Columbia colleges offering 4-year programs and universities like the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, and the University of Victoria. Most universities across Canada and the United States recognize these credits listed by the British Columbia Council on Admissions and Transfer (BCCAT), but students should confirm transferability of their courses with their intended university's admissions office. The time to earn an undergraduate degree in Canada ranges from three to five years, with the average being four years (two years after completing an Associate Degree at Columbia College).
In university programs, the first year typically includes a variety of courses before students specialize starting in the second year. One year of study at Columbia College usually meets requirements for pre-professional programs (like Commerce) or fulfills the first year of a four-year degree program (such as Economics), depending on the university's guidelines.
Program Description
Associate of Arts and Science programs, for University Transfer stream students, will be of interest to those who seek transfer to a degree program at a North American university. Many students transfer after completing between 24 and 30 credits at Columbia College, before completion of their Associate Degree.
Most first year Arts and Social Science courses are introductory and require no subject prerequisite in the subject area. All Science courses for Science majors have secondary level Science pre-requisites, and in some circumstances, a post- secondary Science foundational pre-requisite. University courses usually earn three or four credits, and a full semester course load may consist of 9 to 15 credits. A minimum of two semesters will be required to be eligible to transfer to the second year of an undergraduate degree program at a university.