International Students

Academic Advising for International Students

Academic Planning

An academic counsellor can help students decide when distance learning and online courses are a good option.

Students considering taking online or distance learning courses may wish to determine if online and distance learning courses will meet their needs.  Links to a few videos about taking online and distance learning courses are listed below.

• Returning to School

• Is Home Schooling Faster? 

• Can I skip the prerequisite subject?

• Which is better - online or print (distance learning)? 

• What is a correspondence course? 

• Advantages of taking our online and distance learning courses 

• What makes online studies successful? 

• Importance of Working Regularly

• Bullying, Self-Worth and School

• What Grades and Marks Mean

• What do I Need to Take to Graduate?

• Attention Deficit and Online Studies

• How do I get the GED?

• Which is better the GED or the Alberta High School Diploma?

• High School Equivalency Diploma

• Advantages of High School Equivalency Diploma

Registering in courses from outside of Canada requires a significant amount of planning. International students may need to contact our counsellors before registering in courses. In some cases, international transcripts or placement exercises need to be evaluated so students can know what courses they need to take. Processing international registrations takes additional time, because shipping estimates need to be obtained, and the shipping fees need to be approved before a student is registered in courses. Ideally, students should start the registration process six to eight weeks before the start of a semester.

We strongly recommend against Grade 12 students registering after the start of a semester, because that places them too far behind to complete their studies in time to write the Provincial Diploma Exams for their core Grade 12 academic courses. Grade 12 students are encouraged to start their studies a month before the start of each semester, because they should plan to have all of their course work completed and submitted well before the end of the semester. Students needing to write Provincial Diploma Exams in January may want to start their studies August 1 and end their studies at the end of November. Students planning on writing Provincial Diploma Exams in June may wish to start their studies January 1 and end their semester at the end of April.

International students need to inquire about the tuition cost. The total cost of courses includes books, materials, shipping, miscellaneous fees, and the tuition fee. The cost of books and materials is given in the Online Registrations Guide.

International students are encouraged to keep in close contact with our counsellors to determine what courses they should take. Students wanting to attend a Canadian college or university must contact the college or university they wish to attend to determine the required courses.

Provincial Diploma Exams

Note:  Because a student's request to write a Provincial Diploma Exam outside of Alberta could be declined, students taking Grade 12 Provincial Diploma Exam courses outside of Alberta need to be prepared to travel to Alberta to write the Provincial Diploma Exams. 

Students must write Provincial Diploma Exams to obtain credit for Grade 12 English, Math, Science, and Social Studies courses. Shortly after the semester starts, international students need to start making arrangements for the Provincial Diploma Exams. Alberta Education has forms students complete to apply to write a Diploma Exam outside of Alberta. Forms for establishing Special Writing Centres must be completed. The steps required to get a Provincial Diploma Exam Centre approved could be time consuming, so students are not able to delay finding a person qualified to supervise Diploma Exams.

We recommend that students who are living outside of Canada and the United States try to email their assignments to teachers, because of the cost of air mail.