College education
In 1967, the college system was created during the Quiet Revolution to allow French and English students the ability to follow the same educational route. It was initially formed as an amalgamation of the French-language classical colleges, normal schools and technical schools. The CEGEP system quickly replaced the province's classical colleges, which numbered ninety-eight in 1966-67, to less than twenty in five years' time. The English schools, however, had to be created from scratch because the only two existing English colleges (Loyola and Marianopolis) were converted into other educational institutions. Loyola merged with Sir George University to become Concordia University, and Marianopolis became a private college.
Two types of programs are offered:
1) two year general education (pre- university) programs leading to university.
General Arts include: science, social sciences, creative arts, music, fine arts, language, literature and oral communications.
2) various three year vocational programs leading to the workforce.
Vocational Programs: biological sciences, physical sciences, social sciences, administrative sciences and fine arts.
As of 2008, there were forty-eight CEGEPs, twenty five private colleges, ten institutions operated by government departments, and one college under university. English as the medium of instruction is offered in six of these colleges: Champlain Regional College (with campuses in St. Lambert, Lennoxville in the Eastern Townships and Quebec City), Dawson College, Heritage College, John Abbott College, Marianopolis, and Vanier Upon completion of a college program, a student is awarded a DEC - Diploma of College Studies. This certification is awarded to student who have completed either the vocational stream or the academic stream. The college system streamlined access to universities, as English students were previously eligible for post secondary studies after eleven years of schooling, but French students once required fifteen years of schooling, although, Smith et al., indicated that French students were previously required to complete sixteen years of study before university In the 1970s through early 1980s, "the colleges became heavily involved in programs of continuing education, community development and recently programs of international cooperation with developing nations."
In 1999 Andre Michaud indicated that the rates of completion for Quebec students was greater than forty percent for high school students and greater than twenty-five percent for university students.
General overview of university education
One of the objectives of the Quebec education system is to provide access to university services to the whole province of Quebec. Physical accessibility with these services results either in a physical university campus or a center of teaching establishment in the area, or through distance education. University services are offered in all regions of Quebec. Thus, the majority of universities have several centres of teaching and research, which make up the university campus. In general, the head office of the university is found at this centre. However, in order to meet the needs of populations further removed from the campuses, universities often offer classes at satellite centres distant from their principal campus. These are generally offered on a part-time. Another way of making university education more accessible is through the integrated use of media, such as in printed paper form, television and telematics. The Télé-université, establishment of the network of the University of Quebec, specializes in this mode of distance education. More than 5,100 students are registered there, including more than 3,200 women and nearly 1,900 men. Most of these students enter in the first cycle (September), although some are enrolled part-time. As well, three out of four students are 30 years old or older. Quebec universities confer more than 35 000 university degrees annually. In the 1990s, the annual number of decreed university degrees grew considerably. The rate of obtaining a baccalaureat in Quebec is among the highest in the world.