Colleges in Alberta may refer to several types of educational institutions. College in Canada most commonly refers to a career-oriented post-secondary institution that provides vocational education or education in applied arts, applied technology and applied science. These publicly funded institutions are known as comprehensive community colleges and polytechnic institutions and provide apprenticeships, certificates, and diploma programs. Comprehensive community colleges may also provide undergraduate programs in collaboration with a university, while polytechnic institutions may also provide select undergraduate programs approved by the provincial government.
In addition to publicly funded institutions, several privately funded post-secondary institutions also use the term college in their name. This includes private career colleges licensed by the province, faith-based institutions, and several other types of post-secondary institutions.