Higher education
Surrey's local higher education needs are met by the two major research universities in the neighbouring municipalities of the Vancouver Metropolitan Area, the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University. In addition to several career, community, and junior colleges that offer vocational and polytechnic education throughout the city, trades and technical career education is mainly provided by colleges such as Kwantlen Polytechnic University in the Cloverdale and Newton area and by the British Columbia Institute of Technology in the neighbouring municipality of Burnaby.
Surrey is home to the third satellite campus of Simon Fraser University, the SFU Surrey Campus, which opened its doors in 2002, acting as a satellite campus operating as a public research university as well as providing further impetus for shaping the city. SFU took over the space and programming that was initially built for TechBC, a technical university proposed for south of the Fraser River by the NDP provincial government of the 1990s. SFU Surrey offers a number of programs, including TechOne and Explorations; first-year cohort options; and studies in Health Science, Applied Sciences, Natural Sciences, Liberal Arts, Business Administration, and Interactive Arts and Technology.
On November 28, 2022, Premier David Eby announced plans to launch a new medical school at Simon Fraser University's Surrey campus by September 2026. Eby announced a provincial earmark of $4.9 million in start-up financing to support the potential opening. The inauguration of the school in 2026 will mark the planned opening of Western Canada's first new medical school in 55 years.
Surrey is also the home of Kwantlen Polytechnic University, an undergraduate polytechnic university that opened its doors in the Newton Town Centre of Surrey in 1981 as a response to the growing need for expanded vocational training across the Fraser Valley. In 2008, Kwantlen Polytechnic University was conferred a university designation from the BC provincial government, upgrading itself from a community college to an official academic teaching institution that has become renowned in applied research. Since then, Kwantlen has expanded to various satellite campuses in Richmond, Langley, and as well as a trades and technology centre in the Cloverdale Town Centre. The Kwantlen Surrey campus offers university transfer, career-training and academic-upgrading programs with focuses on science, business, arts, and health, including a publicly accessible wellness centre, while the Cloverdale campus offers vocational training through apprenticeships, citations, certificates, and diplomas for skilled trades and technical careers.
In November 2021, the University of British Columbia announced plans to establish a location in Surrey just north of Surrey Memorial Hospital.
Besides Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Surrey is also home to numerous community and junior colleges providing vocational education, including Brighton College, Sprott Shaw College, PACE Canada College, Pacific Link College, CDI College, Western Community College, Sterling College, Stenberg College, Academy of Learning, Surrey Community College, Discovery Community College and Vancouver Career College.
