Columbia College is a

vocational education Vocational education is education that prepares people for a skilled craft. Vocational education can also be seen as that type of education given to an individual to prepare that individual to be gainfully employed or self employed with req ...

institution located in

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

, Canada, offering certificate and diploma qualifications in a range of subjects. Government-funded

scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...

s are offered to students without the means to pay the fees.

History

Established in the late 1980s, the college was originally known as "Columbia Institute of Canada". Founded by Tom and Nola Snell the school opened with a small range of programs primarily aimed at helping local

disabled Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physica ...

individuals sustain employment and upgrade their existing education. Over the years the College has expanded its programs to include a variety of professional programs in addition to its roots in Academic Upgrading and English as a

second language A second language (L2) is a language spoken in addition to one's first language (L1). A second language may be a neighbouring language, another language of the speaker's home country, or a foreign language. A speaker's dominant language, which ...

College diplomas

Columbia offers both one-year certificate programs and two-year diploma programs. Some two-year academic diplomas can be completed in as few as 12 calendar months.

Accelerated education

Columbia College provides accelerated adult education programs. Students can complete up to one academic year of

post-secondary education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational school ...

during every six months they attend Columbia College.

Columbia Learning Society

In 1998 the College created The Columbia Learning Society to raise money in order to provide scholarships to learners in financial need who wish to attend the College. The society received authority from the

Canadian government The Government of Canada (), formally His Majesty's Government (), is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. The term ''Government of Canada'' refers specifically to the executive, which includes ministers of the Crown ( ...

in the winter of 2002 to issue tax deductible receipts for donations. Columbia College continues to make a substantial donation each year to the society, enabling it to hire staff and offer educational scholarships for free courses to adult learners in need. The society also offers educational scholarships for free weekend tutoring sessions to young children. Since 2002 the society has provided scholarships (valued at $240,000) to over 1,100 learners.

References

External links

Columbia College website
{{coord missing, Alberta Education in Calgary Colleges in Alberta