British Columbia

==Education==
[[File:Hatley Castle BC.jpg|thumb|[[Hatley Castle]] on the campus of [[Royal Roads University]]]]

===K-12 education===
{{See also|Education in British Columbia}}
British Columbia is home to a comprehensive education system consisting of public schools and independent schools that is overseen by the provincial Ministry of Education. The public school system is divided in 59 anglophone school districts and one francophone school district, the ''[[Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britannique]],'' which operates French-language public schools throughout the province.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jacquet |first=Marianne |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WQPnUO4z0XkC |title=Educators' Discourses on Student Diversity in Canada: Context, Policy, and Practice |publisher=Canadian Scholars' Press |year=2008 |isbn=9781551303468 |editor-last=Gérin-Lajoie |editor-first=Diane |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=WQPnUO4z0XkC&pg=PA54 54] |chapter=The Discourse on Diversity in British Columbia Public Schools: From Difference to In/Difference |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WQPnUO4z0XkC&pg=PA51 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319141154/https://books.google.com/books?id=WQPnUO4z0XkC&pg=PA54 |archive-date=March 19, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> The anglophone school districts are governed by school board trustees who are directly elected by the school district's residents. Although 86 percent of students are enrolled in the public school system, British Columbia has one of the highest shares of independent school enrolment among Canadian province, at 14 percent of the student population, due to its relatively generous funding model; most independent schools receive 50 percent of the operating funding that their public counterparts receive from the government. A very small percentage (less than 1 percent) of students are home schooled.

Like most other provinces in Canada, education is compulsory from ages 6 to 16 (grades 1–10), although the vast majority of students remain in school until they graduate from high school ([[Twelfth grade|grade 12]]) at the age of 18. In order to graduate with a graduation certificate, known as a Dogwood Diploma in BC, students must take a minimum of 80 course credits during grades 10 to 12. These credits include a variety of required courses (e.g. in language arts, social studies, mathematics, and science), as well as elective courses.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Care |first=Ministry of Education and Child |title=Graduation Requirements – Province of British Columbia |url=https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/k-12/administration/legislation-policy/public-schools/graduation-requirements |access-date=July 21, 2022 |website=www2.gov.bc.ca}}</ref>

Academic achievement in British Columbia is relatively good, although it has been slipping in recent years by some measures. In 2020, 86 percent of students in British Columbia graduated from high school within six years of entering grade 8.<ref>{{Cite report |title=B.C. Education System Performance – B.C. Public School Results School District: Completion Rates |url=https://studentsuccess.gov.bc.ca/school-district/099/report/completion-rates |access-date=July 21, 2022 |website=studentsuccess.gov.bc.ca}}</ref> According to the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) scores, students in British Columbia scored the second highest in reading ability, fourth highest in mathematic prowess, and fourth highest in science knowledge of the 10 Canadian provinces, although these scores have declined significantly since the 2000 and 2015 assessments.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Richards |first=John |date=December 2021 |title=Student Performance in PISA 2018: Nettlesome Questions for Canada |url=https://www.cdhowe.org/sites/default/files/2021-12/Commentary_576.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.cdhowe.org/sites/default/files/2021-12/Commentary_576.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref>

====International students====
In September 2014, there were 11,000 international students in BC public K-12 schools and about 3,000 international students in other BC K-12 schools.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Sherlock |first1=Tracy |last2=Chiang |first2=Chuck |last3=Shaw |first3=Rob |date=September 12, 2014 |title=BC school shutdown has China 'concerned' |work=[[Vancouver Sun]] |url=https://vancouversun.com/business/school+shutdown+China+concerned/10193719/story.html |access-date=December 25, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225125955/http://www.vancouversun.com/business/school+shutdown+china+concerned/10193719/story.html |archive-date=December 25, 2018}}</ref> [[File:SFU Aerial.jpg|thumb|Aerial view of [[Simon Fraser University]] in Burnaby]]

===Higher education===
{{see also|Higher education in British Columbia}}
[[File:Quest University Canada Aerial View.jpg|thumb|upright|Quest University Canada Academic Building, aerial view]]
British Columbia has diverse array of higher educational institutions, ranging from publicly funded universities, colleges, and institutes, to private universities, colleges, seminaries, and career institutes. Public institutions receive approximately half of their funding from grants from the provincial government, with the remaining revenue stemming from tuition charges and philanthropic donations.<ref>{{Cite report |last=Auditor General |date=2008 |title=Government's post-secondary expansion: 25,000 seats by 2010 |url=http://www.aud.gov.bc.ca/PUBS/2006-07/Report7/PostSecondaryExp2006.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.aud.gov.bc.ca/PUBS/2006-07/Report7/PostSecondaryExp2006.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> Each post-secondary institution sets its own admission requirements, although the standard requirement is the completion of high school.

Public universities and colleges include:

{{col div}}

* [[University of British Columbia]]
* [[Simon Fraser University]]
* [[University of Victoria]]
* [[University of Northern British Columbia]]
* [[Vancouver Island University]]
* [[British Columbia Institute of Technology]]
* [[Kwantlen Polytechnic University]]
* [[Thompson Rivers University]]
* [[Emily Carr University of Art and Design]]
* [[Royal Roads University]]
* [[Capilano University]]
* [[University of the Fraser Valley]]
* [[Douglas College]]
* [[Camosun College]]
* [[Langara College]]
* [[Selkirk College]]
* [[College of New Caledonia]]
* [[College of the Rockies]]
* [[Okanagan College]]
* [[Coast Mountain College]]
* [[Justice Institute of BC]]

{{col div end}}

British Columbia is also home to 11 [[List of private universities in Canada|private colleges and universities]] located throughout the province, including:

* [[Quest University]]
* [[Trinity Western University]]
* [[Alexander College]]
* [[University Canada West]]
* [[Columbia College (British Columbia)|Columbia College]]
* [[Coquitlam College]]
* [[Tamwood International College]]
* [[Ashton College]]
* [[Blanche Macdonald]]
* [[Vanwest College]]

Two American universities ([[Fairleigh Dickinson University]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Vancouver Campus |url=https://www.fdu.edu/campuses/vancouver-campus/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200427130010/https://www.fdu.edu/campuses/vancouver-campus/ |archive-date=April 27, 2020 |access-date=April 28, 2020 |website= |publisher=[[Fairleigh Dickinson University]]}}</ref> and [[Northeastern University]]<ref>{{cite news |title=Boston's Northeastern University to open new campus in downtown Vancouver {{!}} Urbanized |website=[[Daily Hive]] |url=https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/northwestern-university-400-west-georgia-street-vancouver |url-status=live |access-date=April 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200503093615/https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/northwestern-university-400-west-georgia-street-vancouver |archive-date=May 3, 2020}}</ref>) also have degree-granting campuses located in [[Vancouver]].