Colleges in Alberta may refer to several types of educational institutions. College in Canada most commonly refers to a career-oriented post-secondary institution that provides vocational education or education in applied arts, applied technology and applied science. These publicly funded institutions are known as comprehensive community colleges and polytechnic institutions and provide apprenticeships, certificates, and diploma programs. Comprehensive community colleges may also provide undergraduate programs in collaboration with a university, while polytechnic institutions may also provide select undergraduate programs approved by the provincial government.
In addition to publicly funded institutions, several privately funded post-secondary institutions also use the term college in their name. This includes private career colleges licensed by the province, faith-based institutions, and several other types of post-secondary institutions.
Public institutions
All publicly funded post-secondary institutions, including comprehensive community colleges, polytechnic institutions, and other institutions like the Banff Centre are governed under provincial legislation called the Post-secondary Learning Act.
Comprehensive community colleges
Comprehensive community colleges are publicly funded post-secondary institutions with a focus on providing vocational skills in specific fields, as well as providing continuing education programs and academic upgrading needed for admission into other institutions (like universities in Alberta). These institutions may conduct research that supports economic and social development in their region.
Although these institutions are privately operated and financed, the provincial government monitors private career colleges by requiring them to submit annual reports on student graduation and job placement rates as well as through compliance reviews. A private career college's licence can be revoked by the provincial government if graduation and job placement rates are below 70 per cent for four consecutive reporting periods.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Institution
! Location
! Founded
|-
|Alberta Bible College
|Calgary
|1932
|-
|Canadian Lutheran Bible Institute
|Camrose
|1932
|-
|Canadian Baptist Theological Seminary and College
|Cochrane
|1987
|-
|Clearwater College
|Caroline
|1971
|-
|Concordia Lutheran Seminary
|Edmonton
|1984
|-
|Newman Theological College
|Edmonton
|1964
|-
|Peace River Bible Institute
|Sexsmith
|1934
|-
|Prairie College
|Three Hills
|1922
|-
|Rocky Mountain College
|Calgary
|1992
|-
|Rosebud School of the Arts
|Rosebud
|1973
|-
|St. Stephen's College
|Edmonton
|1908
|-
|Vanguard College
|Edmonton
|1942
|}
Other types of privately funded "colleges"
In addition to private career colleges and faith-based institutions, there exist several post-secondary flight schools and language schools that also use the term college in their name. However, the majority of these institutions do not use the term in their name.