Editing Education in Quebec (section)

===Colleges===
{{main|College education in Quebec}}
College education is given by institutions known as Colleges. Both private and public institutions ([[CEGEP|CEGEPs]], which is officially coined in French as ''Collège d'enseignement général et professionnel'') of this type exist within the province.

Unique to Québec, college education serves to bridge compulsory schooling and university education, since it is the only province that requires 11 years of study (instead of 12) to obtain a high school diploma. For admission purposes, [[Canadian provinces]] other than Quebec do not consider completion of grade 11 in Quebec (Sec V)—or, more simply, the secondary diploma of Quebec—to be sufficient for university admission (or admission at other post-secondary institutions). Hence, although some exceptions exist, successful completion of college education in Quebec is generally required to gain qualifications for university admission.

Students who enter college can specialize in a number of different technical or pre-university fields. The term of study is two years for pre-university and three years for most vocational or technical diplomas. Students completing college earn the ''Diplôme d'études collégiales''  sometimes with other designations attached to this title. Of interest, the term CEGEP can only legally be used to describe the state-run post-secondary (post-grade 11) schools, where tuition is free. The 26 private institutions which offer a post-secondary program recognized by the [[Quebec Ministry of Education]] receive a subsidy for each of their 15,000 students, and grant the same diplomas as the public colleges. Unlike the state-run colleges, the private post-secondary schools do not have to combine pre-university and vocational programs in one institution. About half offer pre-university and the other half offer vocational programs.{{citation needed|date=February 2019}}

Holders of the two-year college diploma still must complete a minimum of three years of university education in order to obtain a bachelor's degree. Under Canadian law, bachelor's degrees from government-accredited universities in Canada are considered equal, whether from Quebec or other provinces. Those unfamiliar with Quebec may wonder if three-year university programs there are therefore equal to four-year university programs in other provinces, or in other countries where four-year first university degree programs are the norm. However, given that college diploma holders are granted up to one year of advanced standing credit at any university, it is clear that this is not the case. What exists in Quebec is simply a different structure of education than in other provinces, which ultimately yields exactly the same total duration of study when years of secondary and post-secondary study are combined.

Graduates of two-year college programs often receive up to one year of advanced standing at universities outside of Quebec, but no more than this. Effectively, the first year of college study is considered equivalent to grade twelve in all other provinces, while the second year is considered to be equal to the freshman university year. Chronologically and legally, this is true and has been in effect for the entire modern era of education in Canada.