over $20 million, most frequently above $100 million. Almost all Canadian post-secondary institutions are publicly funded (that is, government subsidized). The few private institutions that are not government-supported are not widely known at all, have generally only been established since the 1980s, and are mostly located in British Columbia. In the Canadian education system, which varies from province to province, colleges are geared for individuals seeking more specific technical careers, such as graphic design or animation whereas universities are geared to individuals seeking more academic careers where a university degree is a prerequisite for entrance, such as medicine or law. There are other systems in place for students to enter traditional trades (called "skilled trades" in Canada), and some provinces have unique preparatory systems or schools, such as Quebec's pre-university college level. Admissions requirements Admission to colleges and universities in Canada has been a direct process since the 1970s. Students generally rank their chosen institutions in order of preference and submit their transcript to the institution or provincial application service for evaluation. In the majority of cases, acceptance is based entirely on marks, with potential for elevation depending on what province an applicant may be from. Applicants in-province may have less stringent grade requirements than out-of-province applicants. For instance, a student applying from an Ontario high school to a university in Alberta or Quebec is likely to require marginally elevated grades as opposed to applying to any school in Ontario itself, where universities and colleges may have lower requirements for their own province's high school graduates. In most cases, Canadian universities require students' high school transcript along with an application for admission. Applications for admission outline additional academic and extra curricular achievements that cannot be expressed through a students' transcript. Generally, universities require that students have taken a university-prep grade 12 English course. Additionally, programs involving mathematics and/or natural science often require students to take a university-prep grade 12 calculus course, as well as university-prep grade 12 biology, chemistry, and physics. Overall, universities base admission around a pupil's academic performance in university/advanced level courses in their grade 11 and 12 years. Also, most universities establish GPA cut offs for admission. This cut off is established based on the competitiveness of individual programs at specific universities. A more competitive program could have a cut off average of 90 percent or higher, while most prestigious programs maintain cut offs around 80 percent.