British Columbia University

There are eleven public universities and five private universities in British Columbia. Eight of these universities – Capilano University, Emily Carr University of Art and Design, University of the Fraser Valley, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Trinity Western University, Simon Fraser University, the University Canada West and the University of British Columbia (with the exception of the University of British Columbia Okanagan, the major UBC campus located in the Okanagan Valley)

– are in the Metro Vancouver region, the most populated region of British Columbia, and three of them – Vancouver Island University, Royal Roads University and the University of Victoria – are on Vancouver Island. The University of Northern British Columbia houses a main campus in Prince George, with regional campuses in Quesnel, Terrace and Fort St. John. Three public universities, Capilano University, University of the Fraser Valley and Kwantlen Polytechnic University, along with the private Quest University Canada, are primarily undergraduate institutions. Two US-based private university campuses in Vancouver, namely the New York Institute of Technology and Fairleigh Dickinson University, both are in Vancouver, primarily for undergraduate and graduate students.

The oldest university in the province is the University of British Columbia, established in 1908, with its newest major campus in Okanagan established in 2005. Five institutions in British Columbia were officially designated as universities on September 1, 2008: Capilano University, Emily Carr University of Art and Design, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, the University of the Fraser Valley, and Vancouver Island University. University enrolment in British Columbia ranges from Quest University Canada with 700 students to the University of British Columbia with 45,484 students.

The biggest provider of online and distance education in BC is Thompson Rivers University, Open Learning. With over 400 individual courses and more than 57 programs available for completion by distance and online learning, students can take a variety of programs such as: adult secondary school completion; certificates and diplomas, including advanced and post-baccalaureate; associate degrees; and bachelor's degrees. Considering distance students, Thompson Rivers University's enrolment is 22,036 (8964 of which is distance).