University colleges in Ontario
A university college is a federated or affiliated academic university institution of a larger public university. Federated and affiliated colleges have existed in Ontario, Canada, for over a century. The establishment of these institutions came from Christian religious groups. There are a total of 24 such university colleges in Ontario, with 10 primarily offering secular programs and 14 primarily offering theological programs.
University colleges share a number of characteristics:
- Focus on undergraduate studies in the liberal arts and post-degree professional programs in the helping professions
- Experiential learning opportunities and student life rooted in altruism and social justice
- Residence for students who wish to live on campus
- A smaller campus community within a greater campus community
- Small class sizes
- Student services and resources exclusively for those students for whom the university college is their home campus, referred to as "co-registration" due to simultaneous access to services of parent campus
Affiliated versus federated university colleges
"Affiliated" and "federated" are often used interchangeably when describing a university college, but they have somewhat different legal relationship with the parent campus. For example, affiliated university colleges typically suspend their degree-granting powers so their students are able to officially earn their degree from the “parent” institution. A federated university college differs in that, although it is a type of affiliation, it is where "two or more institutions come together to create a new university that is recognized by civic authorities and is eligible for government funding".Former affiliated university colleges in Ontario
A number of university colleges were affiliated with Laurentian University / Université Laurentienne until 2021 financial crisis:- Huntington University was affiliated from 1960.
- Thorneloe University was affiliated from 1963.
- Université de Hearst was affiliated with the University of Sudbury in 1957, and then Laurentian from 1963.
- University of Sudbury / Université de Sudbury was affiliated from 1960.
Former University colleges in Ontario
- Brescia University College was affiliated with Western University until its closure in 2024.
- Dominican University College was affiliated with Carleton University from 2012 until its closure in 2024.