The University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) is located in Charlottetown, the birthplace of Confederation and province's capital. It has deep roots in two founding institutions, Prince of Wales College (1834) and Saint Dunstan's University (1855). The university was founded in 1969 as the province's university, and today it honors its proud heritage through excellence in teaching and research. It celebrated its 50th anniversary of outstanding leadership and achievement in education and research in 2019 with a full calendar of events and activities. UPEI offers undergraduate and graduate programs as well as doctoral programs. UPEI offers exceptional academic opportunities for its students with Canada Research Chairs and a Canada Excellence Research Chair in Aquatic Epidemiology, a UNESCO Chair in Island Studies and Sustainability, endowed or sponsored research chairs, and a program of 3M National Teaching Fellows. The University of Prince Edward Island attracts students from all walks of life and from all corners of the world to study and learn. Over 26% of the University's fall 2018 enrollment was made up of international students from 80 countries.
Students in the Co-op Program at UPEI are able to alternate academic and work terms on campus, so they can get a solid grounding in both. This type of programme is based on the concept that students can apply theories from their coursework in the workplace to gain practical workplace experience and then return to the classroom with that knowledge.