Northern Lights College is a public Crown Corporation, first opened in 1975, serving northern British Columbia from its Dawson Creek base.
Northern Lights College (NLC) is a public institution located at 11401 – 8th St, Dawson Creek, British Columbia. Its mission is enriching lives, communities, and industry in northern British Columbia and the world through accessible, applied, and academic learning. The college's vision is to be the college of choice for academic and lifelong learning, in or beyond the classroom. NLC is a member of BC Colleges, a provincial group made up of 11 colleges.
The provincial government formed a Regional Advisory Committee in 1974 to create a community college in Northern BC. Northern Lights College officially opened in 1975 to serve the northern third of the province, with its main centre in Dawson Creek. Fort Nelson and Cassiar locations were soon added. Dr. Barry Moore served as the college's first president from 1975 to 1979, and Jim Kassen became the second president in 1980, serving for 25 years. In 1977, NLC was declared a Crown Corporation under the Colleges and Provincial Institutes Act, which allowed it to own land and have borrowing power. The college has since grown to five campuses and two access centres, attracting students from Canada and around the world.
In 2012, NLC opened its Centre of Training Excellence in Oil and Gas at the Fort St. John Campus. In 2018, it opened its Trades Training Centre in Dawson Creek, a LEED gold building heated by biofuel. Facilities include student housing in Dawson Creek and Fort St. John, campus libraries, bookstores, cafeterias, a daycare, a spa and salon, computer and internet access, and Wi-Fi and laundry facilities in student housing.
NLC offers several admission routes, including general admission through high school grades or alternative preparedness, and assessment or placement testing. English language proficiency admission is available for international and French-educated applicants. The college also offers concurrent studies and dual credit admission for high school students, as well as transfer credit admission.