 The University for the Creative Arts is the oldest higher education institution in the city , having been founded in 1882 by Thomas Sidney Cooper as the Sidney Cooper School of Art . Near the University of Kent is the Franciscan International Study Centre , a place of study for the worldwide Franciscan Order . Chaucer College is an independent college for Japanese and other students within the campus of the University of Kent . Canterbury College , formerly Canterbury College of Technology , offers a mixture of vocation , further and higher education courses for school leavers and adults . 
