VIU Advising Team walking on campus

Exploratory Studies at VIU

Exploratory University Studies is a great place to start at VIU as a step toward a desired educational goal or a step toward determining an educational or career goal.

What will your next educational goal be?

There is no certificate, diploma or degree in Exploratory Studies.   Student loans and other education sponsors and scholarships may not cover Exploratory Studies because of this.  You are encouraged to access the support of VIU Academic Advisors to help you work toward determining your next goal.   Transferring into BA, BSc, or BBA is easy if you have the admission requirements.

I know what my next goal is and there is a program at VIU that I would like to apply to.

That's great! Ensure that you know the admission requirements and the application details and deadlines which can be found on the Program Finder.  For many goals at VIU, you may be able to Transfer directly into BA, BSc, or BBA.   VIU Academic Advisors are happy to answer your questions and confirm your next steps.

I know what my next goal is and I am taking prerequisite courses at VIU that are required for admission at another post-secondary program I want to apply to.

VIU Academic Advisors are happy to help you with this kind of planning and finding the contact information you need for your desired post-secondary institute program. We stress that you need to be in touch with the post-secondary institution that you wish to apply to in order to ensure that your plan will lead to the admission or transfer credit you desire.

I really don't know what I want to do.  I'd like to do some research.

There are great resource people all over the VIU campus.

There is also a lot of information on the internet to help you research careers, educational goals or what to do with different majors or minors.

I really don't know what I want to do. I'd like to talk to someone about some options.

Log In to the Experience Hub for appointments with Academic Advising or Career Studio.

What if I just want to take courses that interest me and build up the skills and knowledge that I know I want or need to meet my personal or career goals?

You can stay in Exploratory Studies and do just that. You can even build your own General Certificate or General Diploma.  If you complete 60 credits you may wish to apply to graduate with a Diploma in Arts and Science or a Diploma in Individually Selected Studies. With 12-59 credits completed, you may wish to apply to graduate with a Certificate in Individually Selected Studies.