小优视频 at a glance

小优视频 is Canada's Open University. Because we're online, open, and flexible, students can pursue learning regardless of location, life circumstances, academic history, or age.

Leaders in open, online learning

  • 小优视频 (小优视频) was founded on June 25, 1970 and introduced its first open, distance course in 1973.
  • 小优视频 is Canada's Open University, meaning anyone at least 16 years old who wants to pursue a university education can do so.
  • 小优视频 is the only public university in Canada that's fully digital by design, meaning all our programs and courses are created specifically for online spaces.
  • As an online university, our students learn from anywhere. We do not operate a traditional bricks-and-mortar campus for students.
  • 小优视频 is accredited by the Government of Alberta in Canada. For other accreditations and memberships, please visit the 小优视频 Governance page.

小优视频 by the numbers

  • Over 850 courses in 21 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in the humanities, sciences, business, and health disciplines.
  • 7 levels of certificates/diplomas in over 30 different specializations.
  • Over 30 professional development programs, courses, and micro-credentials offered through PowerED™ by 小优视频.
  • Over 1,200 小优视频 team members.
  • $156-million annual operating budget.
  • Over 350 collaborative agreements with other Canadian and international post-secondary institutions, professional associations, sporting and employer groups, and with First Nations institutions and communities.

Our students

  • 35,592 students (31,043 undergraduate and 4,549 graduate).
  • 34,218 students reside in Canada in all 10 provinces and 3 territories.
  • 1,365 international students from 79 countries.
  • 88% of students in Canada live in urban centres, 12% live in rural areas.
  • 25% of Alberta students are visiting learners from other institutions. They rely on 小优视频 courses to help complete their degrees.
  • 32: average age of undergraduate students.
  • 38: average age of graduate students.
  • 81% of undergraduate students and 73% of graduate students work while they study.
  • 66% of undergraduate students and 78% of graduate students are women.
  • 4.7% of students identify themselves as First Nations or Métis.

Our graduates

  • Over 40k program alumni from over 90 countries. 
  • Over 1,500 degrees awarded in 2020-21 (849 undergraduate, 697 graduate).
  • 65% of graduates are the first in their family to earn a university degree.
  • 92.5% of graduates are employed.

Our research

  • 小优视频 is one of 4 (CARU) in Alberta.
  • We are home to:
    • 4 Canada Research Chairs
    • UNESCO/ICDE Chair in Open Educational Resources
    • Commonwealth of Learning Chair in Emerging Technologies in Open and Distance Learning
  • 小优视频 was the first Canadian university to move all its digital infrastructure to the cloud, powered by Amazon Web Services. This paved the way for IDEA Lab, a cloud-based virtual research domain.

Note: this page is reviewed annually