University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC), Canada
- Open to Undergraduate and Postgraduate students.
The town of Prince George, surrounded by commercial spruce forests, has a population of about 80,000 (similar size to Palmerston North). Prince George is a very spacious town with wide roads and 120 parks, so distances between different parts of the city may seem great when you first arrive; giving you a very unique sense of space. The town has good public services, such as supermarkets, swimming pools, more than 100 restaurants, cinema, nightclubs, and sports fields, etc. Powder King is the best ski field, with knee-deep powder only 2 hours by bus. Other fields include Tabour (20 minutes drive) and Night skiing at Heart Highlands.
The Prince George campus of UNBC is a beautiful, architecturally designed campus which is still under development. All wings of the university buildings are joined together so that students do not have to walk outside while at the university; a great feature for the winter climatic conditions. The on-campus student housing is within a minutes walk of the University campus, and the dining hall offers a variety of quality food.
Currently, there are about 3600 students including 180 international studying at UNBC. UNBC is known as the ‘People’s University’ as the university was established by the Canadian government after 16,000 people donated $5 each in the petition for a Northern based university. Queen Elizabeth opened the university in 1994.
Exchange Student Travel Grant
New Zealand citizens and permanent residents who apply to go on exchange to UNBC are automatically considered for a Massey University Exchange Student Travel Grant. No additional paperwork needs to be submitted.
Credit system
A full-time undergraduate course load for a student studying at UNBC is considered to be 15 credit hours (usually 5 courses) in one semester. Each course is usually worth 3 or 4 credits. The full-time course load for postgraduate students is 9 credit hours, which normally equates to 3 courses.
Course codes
The first number of a course indicates the year level. For example. ENGL201 is a 200-level English course. 100-299 courses equate to 100-level at Massey. 300-499 courses equate to 200 or 300-level courses at Massey.
Academic calendar
The academic year at UNBC runs from 1 September through to 31 August. Each academic year begins in September. The September semester runs till the end of December (Semester one) and the January semester runs through to the end of April (semester two).
Courses
Business, Sciences, Forestry, First Nations Studies, Nursing and more.
Insurance
All students are required to purchase insurance to study at UNBC. This is in addition to the health and travel insurance you are required to purchase as a participant in the Massey Student Exchange programme.