New York Institute of Technology in Vancouver meets employers' need for advanced-level degrees

Technology is big business, and Americans who want to work in this field have no shortage of educational options.

New York Institute of Technology, Texas Tech, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, California Institute of Technology, and Georgia Tech are but five examples.

Here in Canada, however, technology institutes don’t have quite the same cachet. And this might explain why NYIT’s Vancouver campus in the Pacific Centre complex has flown under the radar of many local residents.

“The international market knows about us and they’re beating down our doors,” the Vancouver campus dean, Irene Young, told the Straight by phone.

NYIT in Vancouver initially offered a master’s of business administration degree specializing in finance or management. In recent years, it’s added a master’s degree in information, network, and computer security and a master’s degree in energy management.

“Our cybersecurity program here is incredible,” Young said. “There is no one offering anything like it in the entire province—and, probably, you would have to go pretty far east to get something similar to it.”

NYIT is now in the process of launching new master’s programs in instructional technology for educators and for workplace trainers.

In addition, NYIT is preparing an application to the Ministry of Advanced Education for new master’s degrees in computer sciences and electrical and computer engineering.

Young hopes they can be offered within a year to 18 months, noting that UBC and SFU “have a limited number of spaces and unmet demand”.

“This fall, we anticipate having as many as 350 students, and that’s not including any students for instructional technology,” she said.

This growth has Young examining options for expanding the Vancouver campus by adding a satellite location, perhaps just out of downtown but still accessible by SkyTrain.

Young pointed out that in a bygone era, people would enter a master’s-degree program, write a thesis, and then move on to obtain a PhD. This would enable them to teach at a university or find a rewarding job as a researcher.

“But the workplace is now requiring and needing more people with advanced-level degrees,” she said. “So we’re here to address that need.”

NYIT has other campuses in Arkansas, United Arab Emirates, and China. About a year ago, the school decided to set tuition rates in Vancouver in Canadian dollars, which has made NYIT more competitive.

“We’re now more affordable than we were a couple of years ago,” Young said. “Also, it’s easier to price-compare.”

The majority of NYIT’s education is face to face in classrooms, but the dean emphasized that the school still tries to provide sufficient flexibility for students who are working full-time.

“They may not have the time to take six months or a year off to do a degree,” she acknowledged. “We factored that in with the energy-management degree because all the courses are offered in the evening. It’s designed for working professionals.”

Young revealed that students at NYIT’s Vancouver campus come from 21 different countries.

In many instances, it’s their ultimate desire to remain in Canada and gain employment in their chosen fields.

“They have identified our degree program as preparing them for the workforce,” she said. “So whether you come from China or Mexico or Vancouver, we have programs that are in demand by the local employers.”