Media Release | Aug. 28, 2006

Demand for a UBC Education Increases: 12,100 Fresh Faces Expected at UBC this Fall

A substantial increase in applications for a University of British Columbia education means 12,100 new students will begin classes on Sept. 5, including a doubling of new student enrollment at UBC Okanagan.

UBC’s Kelowna campus, entering its second year of operations, will welcome 1,172 new first-year students and 407 transfer students, a 123 per cent increase in total new enrollment over last year. At UBC’s Vancouver campus, incoming first-year students will grow by five per cent to 4,955, while another 5,650 students will transfer to UBC as undergraduates or enter as graduate students.

In addition to benefiting from new facilities and academic programs at both campuses this fall, hundreds of students will take advantage of a variety of new teaching innovations. These include progressing through courses in cohorts; incorporating community service for credit; and designing their own courses.

Here is a snapshot of enrollment this year, and what’s new on UBC campuses:

Total enrollment now exceeds 47,000 students

• 43,114 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled at UBC Vancouver (projected, Sept. 2006)
• 3,987 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled at UBC Okanagan (projected, Sept. 2006)

Class of 2010 profiles

UBC Vancouver

• Applications from B.C. Grade 12 students increased eight per cent
• Mean Grade Point Average (GPA) of incoming first-year students: 86.5 per cent
• 69 per cent are from the Lower Mainland, 12 per cent from the rest of B.C., seven per cent from the rest of Canada and 12 per cent from the rest of the world
• 54 per cent are female, 46 per cent male
• 33 per cent will live on campus
• 63 per cent will receive an entrance scholarship ranging in value from $500 to $40,000

UBC Okanagan

• Applications from B.C. Grade 12 students increased 56 per cent
• Mean GPA for incoming first-year students: 79.7 per cent
• 39 per cent are from the Okanagan, 31 per cent from the Lower Mainland, 15 per cent from the rest of B.C., 10 per cent from the rest of Canada and 5 per cent from the rest of the world
• 57 per cent are female, 43 per cent male
• 51 per cent will live on campus
• 52 per cent will receive an entrance scholarship ranging in value from $500 to $40,000 for first year

Tuition

• First-year Arts and Sciences students will pay a base tuition of $4,174 at both UBC Vancouver and Okanagan campuses
• This is a two per cent increase from 2005/06 tuition and is within the inflationary cap set by the Provincial Government

Awards and Financial Aid

• UBC will provide $47 million for its 43,114 students in Vancouver, and $7.5 million in student financial support at UBC Okanagan, in the form of awards, bursaries and fellowships
• UBC is one of only two Canadian universities with a policy that no qualified domestic student be denied access for financial reasons alone

Contacts: Brian Silzer, Associate VP and Registrar, 604.822.3265; Deborah Robinson, Associate Registrar and Director, Student Recruitment, Admissions and Awards, 604 822-2953, and; Andrew Arida, Associate Director, 604.822.2890.

International Students

• 2,800 international undergraduate degree students are expected at UBC Vancouver for 2006/07. This is an increase of 10 per cent over last year
• The number of international undergraduate students registered at UBC Okanagan this fall is expected to grow to 120, from last year’s 80
• A total of more than 5,600 international undergraduate and graduate students are expected at UBC Vancouver this fall, from 130 countries, representing 12 per cent of total enrollment
• For the first time, US citizens will make up the largest group of international students at UBC Vancouver, with a total of 1,140 students (427 graduate, 713 undergraduate currently registered

Contact: Lisa Fisher, International Student Initiative, 604.822.6166

Academic and Teaching Innovations

• Coordinated Arts Program: More than 400 first-year students are taking advantage of a new Faculty of Arts initiative to enroll in coordinated streams of 100-student cohorts. These streams combine disciplines in themes called: Global Citizens; PPE (political science; philosophy; economics); Individual in Society, and; Foundations in Ecology and Sustainability.
• Community Service Learning: UBC is launching a new Community Learning Initiative that will see groups of five to 15 students learn in short-term community service projects
• Student-Directed Seminars: Upper level students can propose, plan and coordinate their own three-credit interdisciplinary course for their peers
• International Service Learning Partnerships: 300 students have signed up for service projects around the world; new partnerships in Kenya and Indonesia

Contact: Randy Schmidt, UBC Public Affairs, 604.822.1266

New Academic Programs

UBC Vancouver

• Faculty of Law new Business Law concentration
• MBA specialization in Sustainability and Business
• Master’s and PhD in Biomedical Engineering
• Master of Food Science
• Canada’s first Educational Doctorate Program (EDD) designed for Aboriginal students to address Aboriginal education issues
• Student exchange (for UBC Vancouver and UBC Okanagan): With 135 study abroad programs, UBC Go Global offers new study partnerships this year at University of Economics Prague, University College London, Imperial College London, and Haute Ecole de Commerce (HEC) Montreal
• BCom in Computer Science

Contact: Randy Schmidt, UBC Vancouver Public Affairs, 604.822.1266

UBC Okanagan

• Performance Arts program, and four new theatre courses
• Master’s programs in Social Work and Nursing
• Master’s and PhD in Engineering

Contact: Bonnie Bates Gibbs, UBC Okanagan Public Affairs, 604.857.9166

New Facilities

UBC Vancouver

• Nobel Biocare Oral Health Care Centre: $5 million new Faculty of Dentistry clinic
• Aquatic Ecosystems Research Laboratory: New $10.6 million home to some of the world’s top experts in fisheries and environmental research
• Phase One of the $73.5 million Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, housing Science and Engineering, Fine Arts, University Archives and Rare Books and Special Collections, plus the largest library “robot” retrieval system in North America, with a capacity for 1.8 million items

Contact: Randy Schmidt, UBC Vancouver Public Affairs, 604.822.1266

UBC Okanagan

• Two new student residences that will house 350 students

Contact: Bonnie Bates Gibbs, UBC Okanagan Public Affairs, 604.857.9166

Housing

• 6,215 single student housing spaces and 533 family housing spaces at UBC’s Vancouver campus. Another 1,030 spaces are being built for students beginning in 2007.
• 817 single student housing spaces at UBC Okanagan. Another 360 student spaces are planned for 2008.
• First year students at UBC Vancouver pay between $3,056 and $3,623 per year in residence fees, and can choose meal plans from $2,710 to $3,765, at UBC Vancouver
• First year students at UBC Okanagan pay $3,293 in residence fees for a single traditional unit, and can choose meal plans from $2,100 to $2,500.

Contact: Brian Heathcote, Housing and Conferences, 604.822.9296

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Contact

Randy Schmidt
UBC Vancouver Public Affairs
Tel: 604.822.1266
Cell: 604.828.0787
E-mail: randy.schmidt@ubc.ca

Bonnie Bates Gibbs
UBC Okanagan Public Affairs
Tel: 250.807.9166
Cell: 250.317.4498
E-mail: bonnie.bates-gibbs@ubc.ca