Students at Thompson Rivers University will no longer have to transfer to another institution to complete a degree in software engineering.
Minister of Advanced Education, Melanie Mark, today announced funding that will allow TRU to offer a full engineering program in Kamloops.
TRU will receive $400,000 in startup funding from the provincial government this year, which will allow the institution to increase the number student spaces and to offer a full degree program.
TRU president Alan Shaver said the university will welcome its first intake of third-year engineering students in fall of 2019.
The university is expected to ramp up to a total of 140 spaces in undergraduate software engineering by 2022-2023, which will produce 35 additional graduates per year by 2023.
"Students at TRU have been asking for a full engineering program, and thanks to funding from the B.C. government, we are able to give it to them," Shaver said.
"This investment means a lot to the community. Not only will the program help Kamloops meet local industry demand for software engineers, it will allow local students to work with those companies as they study to become those engineers."
TRU’s current engineering program requires students to transfer to another institution to complete their degrees.
With the full program running in Kamloops, the provincial government says local tech businesses will have a greater supply of engineering graduates in the area.
The new seats are part of the provincial government’s investment in approximately 2,900 additional spaces in tech programs at post-secondary institutions throughout the province, also announced today.
Total startup funding this year is $4.4 million and is expected to increase to $42 million a year as programs ramp up, the provincial government said in a media release.
