The Education System of Canada
The Canadian higher education system has three major institutions:
1. Universities
2. Community Colleges
3. Colleges of General and Vocational Education (CEGAPs).
Students graduate from high school and either enter university directly, or take college courses, which lead to a certificate or diploma. Upon receiving a certificate or diploma, students often enter university for a more advanced degree--usually a bachelor's degree. Canadian bachelor's degrees take anywhere from three to five years to complete. Universities assess candidates on their own criteria; there is no universally recognized standard of entrance.
Graduate education--often known as "post-graduate" education because it begins after graduation with a bachelor's--consists of master's degrees (largely taught courses that last between one and two years in length) and doctorate degrees (research-based education, which takes from two years to seven years).
Education in Canada is the responsibility of each Canadian province; educational standards and funding are not centrally controlled as they often are in the United States. This federalist approach to higher education gives individual universities more power to set their own entrance requirements, length of degrees, and graduation criteria. Despite the higher independence of Canadian universities, the level of undergraduate education in Canada is similar to US and other commonwealth countries.
Because Canada is a bilingual country, there are many programs of higher education that are taught in both English and French. This does not make a difference to the student; students usually select courses in their first language.
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