CANADA Education Report

Located in the unique university town of Lethbridge, Alberta, the University of Lethbridge (U of L) prides itself on offering both an authentic Canadian experience and an exciting international atmosphere. One of Canada’s top-ranked universities, the U of L offers a comprehensive liberal arts education to approximately 8,200 students who are collectively enrolled in more than 150 programs.

 

Students have given positive feedback on the quality of student life in Lethbridge. “We are located in a smaller city that has the amenities of a large city,” said Acting Executive Director of Lethbridge International, Paul Pan. “The University of Lethbridge is one of the top-three undergraduate universities in Canada. We provide excellent services and superior teaching and guidance within a supportive, respectful, welcoming, and collaborative environment.”

 

Of the university’s more than 630 international students from 65 countries, approximately 45 students have come from Brazil to participate in the Science without Borders program. Popular amongst these students are programs such as kinesiology and behavioral neuroscience, the latter of which attracts top scholars worldwide to do research at the U of L’s Canadian Centre for Behavioral Neuroscience (CCBN).

 

Brazilian students feel well-integrated into the U of L community and actively participate in activities and clubs like the International Students’ Association. “Brazilian students get quite involved on campus,” said Mr. Pan. “We organize social activities on campus for our international students here. Last year, one of our largest turnouts was for lawn bowling.”

 

With many enthusiastic international students acting as ambassadors to their home countries, the U of L looks forward to reaching out to potential Brazilian partner universities that share similar goals and interests. “We are exploring more opportunities with institutional and research partners. We are a small, research-driven, comprehensive institution, and we pride ourselves on liberal education, so we are looking at universities that are good at providing services to students. We put our students at the forefront of everything we do by providing the best education and experiences possible,” explained Mr. Pan. The U of L hopes to attract small, like-minded institutions that are interested in collaborative research as well as student and faculty exchange.

 

One of the university’s overarching goals is to “develop global citizens domestically.” By bringing international students to the U of L and sending local students abroad, the university strives to create open-minded, globally-educated graduates.