Graduates of the BEd program (Elementary or Secondary) are prepared to be effective educators for public, band-operated and independent schools. The First Nations Education Council, which developed and advises the program, is made up of Aboriginal educators, UBC Faculty, coordinator representatives, a BCTF representative, and NITEP student representatives.
As a contemporary program with traditional values, NITEP truly exemplifies how culture can be integrated within a mainstream post-secondary institution. Students may begin NITEP in one of three field centres throughout BC, allowing students to maintain their connection to home and community while pursuing their education. The cohort structure of NITEP allows students to bond and become a family as they experience the program together. Students have likened their experience to a canoe journey; the more they pull together the easier it becomes. NITEP students and graduates are role models and agents of change and empowerment.