ACC ready to welcome more students from India

Assiniboine Community College will increase the number of new students it welcomes from India every year, now that the college has been accepted into the Student Partnership Program (SPP).

“The SPP is a partnership between Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s visa offices in India and Colleges and Institutions Canada that helps students in India streamline and speed up their study visa applications,” said Diane Shamray, Vice-President of Enterprise Development at ACC. “Receiving the SPP designation shows that we meet the high standards of the Student Partners Program.”

“Students in India are very interested in coming to study in Canada,” said Anna Simonyan, ACC’s International Coordinator. “Being a part of SPP means that ACC will be a top choice for many of them.”

This year, ACC has about 10 international students from India in programs like Hotel and Restaurant Management, Business Administration and Civil Technician.

As a condition of the SPP program ACC needs to accept at least 20 new international students from India every year. The college is confident it will more than exceed this requirement.

“ACC has a goal of doubling our total number of grads by 2025, significantly increasing our number of international students is a key part of meeting that target,” said Shamray.

International students are those who are studying on a student visa. Students from other countries who are in Canada as permanent residents are counted as regular students.

Only about 40 colleges in Canada are currently part of the SPP. ACC was notified of its acceptance in late October.