Sheridan College wants to become a university.

It’s ready to make the leap after 47 years as a community college, Sheridan College CEO and President Jeff Zabudsky told Oakville Town Council Monday night — seeking council’s endorsement.

The college has grown significantly, to nearly 20,000 full-time students across all four of its campuses in Oakville, Brampton and Mississauga, said Zabudsky in his presentation outlining the institution's vision and readiness to offer undergraduate professional education.

Sheridan is a known world leader in animation, gaming and design and is home to the Canadian Music Theatre Project, fostering homegrown talent and development in Canadian music theatre and production, he said.

"We have the only music theatre degree in Canada, which is a huge success."

Noting other up-and-coming programs like interaction design, Zabudsky said Sheridan is always pushing the margins of innovation and constantly looking at "where the puck is going to be, not where it is today."

More and more, international students are also choosing Sheridan as their place to learn and among the top 20 universities in Ontario, Sheridan would place ninth in terms of enrolment numbers, he said.

"We have the scale and size that’s often associated with what a university is," he said, adding the school is developing the programming for it to become a university, and has enrolment numbers to support the transition. Enrolment is projected to be more than 23,000 by the year 2020.

Zabudsky also outlined how the addition of new bachelor degree programs will provide more options for students, should they wish to continue their studies in a particular field or apply to other universities for graduate programs.

The school will however continue to maintain its foundation in applied education and continue to offer diploma and certificate programming, he added.