New president welcomes largest ever first-year class

 

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UBC is set to welcome more than 8,000 first-year students this fall. Photo: UBC

The University of British Columbia is preparing to welcome 8,360 incoming students, its largest ever first-year class. President Arvind Gupta will greet many of them at an Okanagan rally at 8:30 a.m. and Vancouver campus pep rally at 2:30 p.m.

Editors: For information about today’s welcome events, click here

The Okanagan campus expects 1,556 first-year students, for an overall campus enrolment of 8,182. The Vancouver campus expects 6,804 first-year students, bringing that campus enrolment to 50,699.

“We are blessed with two beautiful and diverse campuses in Vancouver and Kelowna, comprising over 58,000 students from 140 countries,” says UBC President Arvind Gupta. “We are proud that our students hail from so many other lands, enriching us with their cultures and fostering a deep sense of diversity.

“I am asking our students, who will be our future leaders, to ask hard questions, demand high standards, inspire each other to ever greater heights and give a helping hand to each other wherever needed.”

As of the end of August, total enrolment on both campuses is 58,881, about the same level as last year. This includes 47,933 undergraduates and 10,948 graduate students.

“The university is seeing an increase in popular new programs that are attracting the highest calibre of students,” says Kate Ross, associate vice president, Enrolment Services, and UBC registrar. “These include the new Bachelor of International Economics and dual degree programs with Science Po in France.”

More are on the way, including a proposed bachelor of media studies program through the Faculty of Arts and a 4.5-year dual degree bachelors/masters of management program through the Sauder School of Business that will welcome new students in 2015. On the Okanagan campus, there is a new honours program in forensic psychology through the Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Science.

The university continues to completely fill all of its provincially funded spaces for domestic students. Since 2003, the number of domestic undergraduate students served at UBC has grown by 30 per cent to about 40,700 last year due in part to significant expansion of UBC’s Okanagan campus enrolment.

The University also continues to attract students from all over the world and this year welcomes 2,396 incoming first-year international students.

BACKGROUND

Recently launched programs at UBC

The Bachelor of International Economics

Offered through the Vancouver School of Economics, the Bachelor of International Economics provides students with a deep understanding of the global economy, focusing on international trade, finance and international development.

The dual degree programs with Sciences Po

UBC has partnered with renowned French university Sciences Po (l’Institut d’études politiques de Paris) to offer its first international undergraduate dual degree programs. Students can pursue a four-year dual Bachelor of Arts or dual Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Commerce, studying two years at each institution and earning degrees from both.

New and future programs

Vancouver

Vantage College

New to the Vancouver campus this year is UBC’s first class of about 200 Vantage College students. Vantage College is a new academic unit that helps outstanding international high school graduates sharpen their English-language skills while pursuing first-year classes.

The Bachelor of Media Studies

The new Bachelor of Media Studies is a multidisciplinary undergraduate program that blends practice, theory and research from art history, visual arts, creative writing, journalism, film studies and production, computer science and more. It will be offered through the Faculty of Arts beginning in September 2015.

The Bachelor’s + Master of Management Dual Degree Option

This proposed program allows students to pursue their passions from the arts and sciences and also equips them with career-ready business skills.  Students can earn a combination of UBC undergrad degree and a Master of Management from the Sauder School of Business in 4.5 years. The program will be available in September 2015, subject to approval by UBC Senate.

Okanagan

The honours program in forensic psychology

UBC’s Okanagan campus is the only school in Canada to offer honours psychology students a specialization in forensic psychology. Students learn about the psychological aspects of crime and criminal investigation, the role of psychologists in the legal system, and mental health issues and psychological interventions for both victims and offenders.

Contact

Heather Amos
UBC Public Affairs
Tel: 604.822.3213
Cell: 604.828.3867
Email: heather.amos@ubc.ca
@H_Amos_