Island-hopping: P.E.I. colleges try to woo students from Magdalen Islands

Officials with P.E.I.'s Holland College and Collège de l'Île have just returned from a trip to the Magdalen Islands that they hope will mean even more students from there attending their classes.

They have been promoting the strong language and cultural ties to the Acadian and Francophone community, and the common Island way of life.

The two institutions also started a new partnership in April that allows students to take courses at both institutions, which they were pushing during their visit, said Ross Young, international student coordinator for Holland College.

"So now with being able to take French programming for the students from the Magdalens and for the English-speaking students, they can also come and take our programming," Young told Mainstreet's Angela Walker.

"And we found over on our little visit that one of the educators in the English school recognized that her students, while they might take an English program, let's say culinary arts, they could take a French course with De L'ile. So there's a lot of nice synergies."

Young, along with Dominique Chouinard, the director of communications for Collège de l'Île, spent the weekend in the Magdelan Islands meeting with parents, students and teachers.

UPEI is well known there, and the two colleges are building their reputations now as well.

"Both colleges are on the upswing over there," said Chouinard.

"There are very little local opportunities for post-secondary education. Some in French, CEGEP, as it's known in Quebec, and they only offer the two-year university prep locally. Anything else, they have to go off the Islands for that."

This was the first time both institutions sent staff to the Magdalen Islands, and recruiters will return in the fall.

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