Thompson Rivers University (commonly referred to as TRU) is a public teaching and research university offering undergraduate and graduate degrees and vocational training. Its main campus is in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada, and its name comes from the two rivers which converge in Kamloops, the North Thompson and South Thompson. The university has a satellite campus in Williams Lake, BC, and a distance education division called TRU-Open Learning. It also has several international partnerships through its TRU World division.

TRU offers 140 on-campus programs and approximately 60 online or distance programs through the Open Learning Division, including trades apprenticeships, vocational certificates and diplomas, bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and law.

In January 1995 the College and Institute Amendment Act gave UCC (University College of the Cariboo) the authority to independently grant degrees. Several new programs launched that decade, including five more bachelor’s degrees and the Adventure Guide Diploma. Construction in the 1990s included a cost-recovery-based joint proposal between UCC and the student society to complete the 53,000 square foot, student-focused Campus Activity Centre, after a change in provincial legislation in 1990 allowed the college to borrow money privately for development.

TRU’s inaugural convocation was held March 31, 2005, along with the installation of its first chancellor, Nancy Greene Raine. Prime Minister Paul Martin was TRU’s first official visit the following day. The Master of Business Administration, TRU’s first autonomous master’s degree program, began that September.

CAMPUS LOCATIONS

• • 805 TRU Way,
    Kamloops, BC V2C 0C8,
    Canada
  • 100 Mile Barriere,
    Ashcroft.
    Cariboo-Chilcotin(BC)
    Canada