UBC Arts: Overview

Written by Stephanie Pugh and Matthew Tran

Leaders, innovators, inventors, and changemakers, UBC Arts graduates are transforming our world! You can immerse yourself in various and fascinating learning opportunities, develop numerous areas of competence, and create an interdisciplinary degree programme that is as unique as you are in UBC’s Faculty of Arts.

The program inspires big ideas, transforms traditional learning, and prepares you for success with a diverse, supportive, and inclusive environment and a flourishing arts and culture scene. There are over 3,000 courses to choose from and over 70 undergraduate programmes!

Do you want to be a part of the UBC Arts community? Continue reading to learn more about the opportunities available at UBC Arts!

Why Choose UBC Arts?

UBC Faculty of Arts is a research-intensive faculty with internationally acclaimed programmes in social sciences, humanities, creative and performing arts, and professional schools.

UBC Arts teaches about 16,000 students in bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees across 25 departments, schools, institutes, and programmes, making it the university’s largest academic unit.

UBC Arts is a vibrant and thriving community of brilliant researchers, both professors and students, with a really unique scope.

UBC Arts Highlights:

  • You can design a degree programme that suits your academic, personal, and professional objectives.
  • The program offers exciting chances to experience more than 3,000 courses taught by more than 1,000 experts in their professions.
  • The program is known for its research in the social sciences, humanities, and creative and performing arts around the world.
  • Under the umbrella of UBC Arts, the best of quantitative research, humanistic inquiry, and artistic expression are brought together. Most of their departments are in Canada’s top two, and many are in the top 20 worldwide!

Popular Courses at UBC Arts

With a wide range of academic disciplines, experiential learning alternatives, and cutting-edge research opportunities, UBC Arts provides an unrivalled student experience that allows you to customize your degree and design your own path.

A degree is an academic credential that you will receive when you graduate from UBC (e.g. Bachelor of Arts). Your degree will almost always contain at least one programme in which you specialize in an academic topic, either as part of the degree (for example, Media Studies in a Bachelor of Media Studies) or by choice (e.g. Psychology major in the Bachelor of Arts).

Here are some of the stand-out programs that you can apply for at UBC Arts:

  • Visual Art
  • Political Science
  • Archaeology
  • Economics
  • Theatre
  • History & International Relations
  • Bachelor of Media Studies
  • English Language and Literature

To search more of the UBC Arts program options, visit this website!

UBC Arts Requirements

Before you apply for the program, you’ll need to see if you meet the admission requirements first!

Admission to UBC is competitive, all applicants must meet UBC’s general admission requirements and English Language Admission Standard.

General admission requirements

  • Graduation from high school
  • Minimum of 70% in Grade 11 or Grade 12 English (or their equivalents). Keep in mind that the higher your average, the more competitive of an applicant you are for the program!
  • At least six academic/non-academic Grade 12 courses (recommended, but not required)

Now, to join UBC Arts, you must fulfill these Degree-specific requirements:

Grade 12 requirements

  • ENG4U (English

Related courses

You will want to choose high school courses that meet your degree requirements.

The following subject categories are particularly relevant for a UBC Arts degree. Consider taking courses in these areas in Grade 11 and Grade 12:

  • Language Arts
  • Mathematics and Computation
  • Second Languages
  • Social Studies
  • Visual and Performing Arts

If your school does not offer a wide selection of courses, or family commitments or finances have limited your ability to pursue certain academic opportunities, tell UBC when you apply. They’ll take that into account when evaluating your application.

UBC Arts Scholarships

For first-year in the program, you can expect your educational costs to total, on average, about $8,930.76.

However, don’t fret about these costs — UBC has a multitude of scholarships available for UBC Arts students!

Here are some of the most prominent scholarships that you will want to check out!

Presidential Scholars Award

  • UBC’s Presidential Scholars Award program offers the most prestigious awards to entering students who have demonstrated academic and leadership achievements, including a one-time award of $5,000 and renewable awards of up to $80,000 payable over four years.

UBC Centennial Scholars Entrance Award

  • UBC’s Centennial Scholars Entrance Award program supports academically qualified students who would not otherwise be able to attend UBC without significant financial assistance. There are one-time and renewable awards of up to $40,000 payable over four years, as well as opportunities to receive awards that cover up to the full cost of program and living expenses.

Loran Scholars

  • UBC is home to more Loran Scholars than any other Canadian university. Recognizing that academic performance is not the only indicator of value, the Loran Scholars Foundation looks beyond transcripts to find the next generation of leaders for Canada. Loran Awards of up to $100,000 are awarded to Canadian students who demonstrate integrity, courage, grit, and personal autonomy.

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