Governance
Department of Education and Early Childhood Development
Higher Education in PEI falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. The Department has two divisions: the Public Education Branch and the Higher Education and Corporate Services Branch. The Higher Education and Corporate Services Branch is responsible also for Continuing Education and Training.
Higher education institutions
Prince Edward Island has three publicly funded institutions: Holland College, Collège de l'Île (formerly Collège Acadie Î.-P.-É.), and the University of Prince Edward Island. All three are publicly funded institutions that enjoy a high level of institutional autonomy in establishing admission requirements, tuition and governance.
Holland College
Holland College, created by the Act to Establish Holland College in 1969, is mainly a vocational school. Instead of having only one site, the college has responded to the geographical needs of the province by establishing numerous centers across it. The Culinary Institute of Canada, the Aerospace Centre, the Justice Institute of Canada, the Atlantic Tourism and Hospitality Institute (ATHI), the Marine Centre, and the PEI Institute of Adult and Community Education, are all strongly supported by local industry. Joint degree and 2+2 programs offered at Holland College help students articulate their credits when transferring to another institution.
Most programs offered by Holland College require students to complete an unpaid practicum as part of the program requirements, ensuring that each student has been provided with an opportunity to apply newly acquired skills in a work environment.
Admission requirements are the same for international students as well as Canadian applicants in that a high school diploma or equivalent is required, although international students are required to pay a $3,000 "International Student Fee" in addition to tuition. Priority for admission is first given to provincial residents, other Canadian applicants second, and thirdly to international applicants.
Collège de l'Île
The province and la Société Éducative de I'Île-du-Prince-Édouard cooperated in the establishment of a French Training Centre on PEI, which delivered programs offered by Le Collège de l'Acadie, Nouvelle-Écosse and l'Université de Moncton, Nouveau-Brunswick. The agreement worked to provide PEI francophones with access to adult education and training programs in French, operate an adult training centre that provided professional development, personal interest, literacy, and general training courses in French and assist in community development by offering leadership and other training programs in French. This eventually developed into a full-fledged partnership that established a campus of Collège de l'Acadie in Wellington.
However, in 2003, the Nova Scotia operations of Collège de l'Acadie were merged into the Université Sainte-Anne which is headquartered at Pointe-de-l'Église, Nova Scotia. The PEI operations continued under the name Collège Acadie Î.-P.-É and subsequently Collège de l'Île. Collège de l'Île does not have an Act of its own, differentiating it from Holland College and UPEI. Rather, it operates under a Memorandum of Agreement with the government of PEI, originally signed on 23 June 2008.
The college now has three campuses, the main campus in Wellington, and two satellite campuses in DeBlois et Charlottetown. Currently, the college offers vocational programmes in areas such as practical nursing, accounting clerkship, and early childhood education. It also offers language training in English and in French.
University of Prince Edward Island
The University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) is located in the provincial capital of Charlottetown, a city with a population of 32,000. In 1965, Provincial Legislature had given Prince of Wales College degree-granting status, yet by 1969, Legislature passed another act calling for the amalgamation of St. Dunstan's and Prince of Wales Colleges and the incorporation of the University of Prince Edward Island. UPEI offers undergraduate, graduate and professional programs in four faculties (Arts, Education, Sciences, and Veterinary Medicine) and two schools (Business and Nursing.) It provides undergraduate and graduate education, professional education, and research.
The university has full autonomy over admissions and all other matters pertaining to academics. It has become home to an increasing number of international students and offers access to formal exchanges and co-op and internship programs with international partner universities. The University of Prince Edward Island has the authority to set its own policies and requirements for admission, but generally, Canadian applicants to UPEI must have completed a high school diploma or its equivalent. Rules governing UPEI are outlined in the University Act, 1969.
In 1986, UPEI opened the Atlantic Veterinary College (AVC) on its main campus, which offers the only veterinary medicine program in the Maritime provinces. AVC offers graduate study in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.
Privately funded institutions
The Maritime Christian College, a privately funded religious school, is the only degree-granting institution in the province other than the University of Prince Edward Island; it is also governed by the University Act.
Additionally, PEI has provincially regulated private training schools, or career colleges, which offer postsecondary vocational training designed to prepare students for employment through employment training in a wide range of occupations. There are approximately 20 private training schools registered with the province. Private schools offer employment training in a wide range of occupations. Schools are privately owned and operate as a business.
Schools that offer career vocational training and which operate in Prince Edward Island must register under the province's Private Training School Act.
Associations
Association of Atlantic Universities (AAU)
Established in 1964, the Association of Atlantic Universities is a voluntary association of the 17 universities in the Atlantic region and in the West Indies which offer programmes leading to a degree or have degree-granting status. One of the fundamental roles of the association is to create greater awareness and understanding of the important contribution of universities to the social and economic development of the Atlantic Provinces. The Association's business is conducted by the AAU Council, which consists of the executive heads of all the member institutions. The AAU currently meets two times a year and is served by a permanent secretariat. The activities of the Association are funded principally through annual membership fees based on the operating income of the member institutions.
Council of Atlantic Ministers of Education and Training (CAMET)
The Atlantic ministers responsible for education and training signed an agreement in April 2004 under which the provinces of New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island agreed to collaborate on joint undertakings to respond to the needs identified in public and post-secondary education. CAMET is dedicated to further enhancing the level of cooperation in public and post-secondary education by working on common issues to improve learning for all Atlantic Canadians, optimize efficiencies and bring added value to provincial initiatives and priorities.
Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission (MPHEC)
The MPHEC was created in 1974 to assist Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and their institutions in attaining a more efficient and effective utilization and allocation of higher education resources. It provides quality assurance, data and information sharing, cooperative action, and regional programmes as well as specific services to one or more provinces or institutions as agreed to by the Ministers of Education.