I have noticed that many European members of the board say that they attend a college, and then go on to a university. This suggests that the education received at a university is in some way superior to that received in a college. I find this odd, because in the U.S. the terms of college and university are used pretty much interchangably. There is no need to attend college before going to a university, and if fact, most people go only to one or the other, and the degree that you get is pretty much the same regardless.

The main difference between a college and a university in the U.S. is the number of areas of study it offers. Generally speaking, colleges offer fewer areas of study than universities. Some universities actually seperate their areas of study into individual colleges. So in some respects, a university can be considered a compilation of several colleges. However, in terms of quality of education, it is not necessarily true that universities are superior to colleges. If you are interested in an area of study that a college specializes in, it is quite likely that the college actually has a better program in that particular area than does a similarly priced university.

So what gives with the European distinction?

Colleges are mainly for smaller courses. Usually spread over 6 months, or year or maybe 2 years for the longer courses. A lot of the courses are 'part-time', one day a week, night courses or weekend courses. You don't get a room or anything like that like. It's purely like an extension of secondary school.

University's are for more 'full-time' education. Courses are years long, cost a lot of money and you'll have a room. Lectures each day, loads of studying etc.

If I had a full-time job, but had day release one day a week to study, it'd be for a college, not a uni. That's basics of it as I understand it.

In New Zealand, a college is where you go from age 13 to 17 or 18. After you have finished college, you may choose to go to university to do something like a 3 year degree.

Basically, if you're doing a degree you're at Univesity.

So:
College = A-levels or equivalent,
University = Degree or equivalent,

Short courses/evening courses can be run at either, though it tends to be desribed as "College" because it isn't a degree.

However, Universities may describe themselves as Colleges (Imperial College, University of London; Trinity College, Oxford University etc.)

Clear as mud hey!

The many systems are confusing, but as a rule, if it can grant a graduate degree it probably has to be a university (except professional Master's known in some countries, which is not exactly a normal academic graduate degree).

No colleges here. Higher education (above high school level) is teached in two grades above 10th in special schools called 'Gymnasium'. It reaches from 4th or 6th to 12th grade.

After finishing Gymnasium you can go to University.

In Canada both colleges and universities are post-high school education but generally speaking universities are degree granting institutions (i.e. your traditional B.A., MBA, P.H.D. degrees) where as colleges offer skilled trade training and grant diplomas (e.g. a diploma in graphics design, cooking, or electronics repair).

To really mess things up though some universities have sub-areas that they call colleges within them for things like religious studies - but they grant the normal university degrees for those programs. The university I went to had a half dozen or so religious colleges attached to the school. I could have taken courses through them but I never did so I can't really say what they were like.

At the university I went to, it contained several colleges which defined differing required classes/proficiencies you had to meet to get your degree.

For example, mine was the "well rounded" college and I had to be proficient in a foreign language, had to take certain humanities classes etc.

Man, how hard is it to get consistent use of a couple of basic words?

Harbourboy, pretty hard.

At Duke University, where I earned my graduate degree, the divisions granting bahelor's level degrees (the one right after high school) were called colleges: Trinity College was the main undergraduate body. And the graduate-degree granting divisions were schools: School of Law, School of Medicine, and so forth. Now how's that for confusing?

What's 'dangerous' about this thread?

it depends, sometimes (in the UK) it is simply name only. e.g. the royal welsh college of music and drama is a university. from a level of education though, university is considered 'higher' education, while college isnt, sometimes college a'level and as'level courses are available in comprehensive school as 6th form.

@Barmy Army, a little education is a dangerous thing. :p

Near me is a community college that offers Associate degrees; basically 2 year courses. It also offers Certificates and courses for Seniors and others. I could take a course that would have me travel somewhere. Then people can either go on to a College that offers more advanced degrees or to a University. A University is usually larger and offers a great deal more variety.

My high school was actually called a college, believe it or not :) . AFAIK, in Bulgaria a college is an institution of what used to be called a "semi-high" education, kind of like a parallel track to a university that you can go on after you finish high school. However, while the university was mostly theoretical, colleges provided mostly practical knowledge and as such were a place for higher qualification for technicians or nurses (while engineers and doctors had to have a degree from a university). Now the line is getting a little blurred, but a college would still mostly prepare you for more "hands-on" professions and have shorter courses, up to a B.A/Sc equivalent.

I think a big part of the problem is translation. In Dutch, the word 'college' mostly means lecture, or multiple lectures. When I would say: "I'm going of to college", I would mean that I'm going to the university to follow lectures. However, when I see the word college used in English, I immediately think of an education lower than the kind of education you would get at a university.

Let me give you a quick overview of the education system in the Netherlands.
After high-school, there are three levels of education you can follow:
MBO: This is the lowest form of education you can get, after high-school. Here you can become a nurse, or... I can't really think of another example, but either way, low end jobs.
HBO: After high school, you can go here and take a four year study to get you Bachelor degree. This is a little more practical than a university study. I would call this a College in English.
University: Here you will get your Masters degree after a four or five year study, and whatever titles you want to get after that. It is more theoretical than a HBO-study.

So, that is how I use the words, mainly because I don't know a good English equivalent of our HBO, and college sounds a little less important than university.

In the US a college is generally just a small university. For example, there's Harvard University and a Harvard College. (Most?) colleges in the US offer a Bachelor's (4-year) degree and some have a few Master's as well.

In New Zealand, a college is where you go from age 13 to 17 or 18. After you have finished college, you may choose to go to university to do something like a 3 year degree.There are some tertary education colleges here in NZ. The main ones that jump to mind are teacher training colleges.

[Edit] Looking at a list of public education providers put out by the government, there are 5 'colleges' in New Zealand, who deal with education after secondary school, with the one in Palmy been the only one that doesn't seem to be solely for teachers.


Auckland College of Education (Auckland)
Wellington College of Education (Wellington)
Christchurch College of Education (Christchurch)
Dunedin College of Education (Dunedin)
Universal College of Learning (Palmerston North)

So what gives with the European distinction? The problem with this claim is that within Europe there also exists major differences on education. Most countries have more or less different systems. I suppose a college would be everything you study after the gymnasium (which would be the 10th, 11th and 12th grade) including universities around here. Universities being for academic studies and other institutions (which I'm unable to transelate to English) for more technical studies.

I always assumed that they were just different words. That is, what we define as "college", you define as "high school", and what we define as university you define as college.

So confusing. Basically secondary school goes up to the 12th grade. Both colleges and universities give out degrees in the U.S. People who learn trades do not attand colleges, but instead go to trade schools, which are commonly referred to as "technical schools", "trade schools", or for some reason "technical/trade institutions".

And to add a little more to the confusion we have community colleges that usually offer an associate degree which is a two year program.

And I hold a Certificate in Hardware Technology from a University. The credits received also count toward my BS. I guess my Network Administrator Certificate from Novell would fall under technical/trade school.

We also have Jr. High Schools-7th thru 9th. Then on to Sr. High School.

As people has mentioned the confusion stems from the wide variety of school systems all different countries have and ignorance of foreign school systems.

In Sweden we have basic 1-9 compulsory education which everyone has to attend. You graduate from this the year you turn 16. After you have the so called choice of attending three years of what is called "gymnasie" and which proper translation I have been taught is "upper secondary school" (I say so called choice because in reality there is no choice involved, if you dont go you have very slim chances to do anything). This level of education has to main paths, one which is university prepatory and one which grants you some kind of professional degree in more practical lines of work like cook, mechanic, electrician and so forth. Lines of work where no real academic study is needed. That said, as our system is now if you have finished any "gymnasie" program you are eligible for University although you might lack some preparation if you studied to be a cook.

The confusion at least for me is that the American high school ends sooner than the Swedish gymnasium and from what I have understood you have compulsory classes in all American colleges and universities at least in your first year or two. This gave me the impression that the Swedish gymnasium was a mix between the American high school and college. I then drew my own conclusion, mostly based on the fact that compulsory courses exist that college was kinda like a pre-education before University. That you first went to college and then went for further studies at a university. In Sweden there are no compulsory courses after you finish the "gymnasium" when you move on to University you pick your line of study and study that and nothing else. I spent four and a half year at Universty (or college) not studying a single bit of math or science for example.

To further add to the confusion the higher education in Sweden is also labelled in two different ways, we have universities that are named as universities (same word) and we have högskolor (exact translation: high school) which offer the exact same thing as the universities but just arent named as one. I still dnot know what the official distinction is between the two but I think it has something to do with whether research is done at the place or not or it could just be a matter of size or history I just dont know but I think the distinction between them is the same as the between university and college in the US.

This is complicated stuff.

I agree with joacqin on the confusing bits about the Swedish system... The distinction between universities and högskolor is confusing. I'm quite sure they perform research in both though. To make it even more confusing, the english name of (at least some) högskolor doesn't say anything at all. Like the "Royal Institute of Technology", what does that really mean? Then there's of course "folkhögskolor", but I don't think you can count those as higher education.

I always thought universities and colleges had the same status. Well, you learn something new everyday. :)

The Finnish system is about the same. I'm not sure if Sweden have these but I think you forgot "yrkesskolor" (Professional school being the exact transelation and equivalent to to gymnasium but it trains to a proffession, like a car mechanic) and "yrkeshögskolor" (Professional high school, which comes after professional school or gymnasium and also trains to a professionl like some kind of a engineer) from that explanation too, which only serve to complicate the situation further. ;)

The confusion at least for me is that the American high school ends sooner than the Swedish gymnasium and from what I have understood you have compulsory classes in all American colleges and universities at least in your first year or two. Most colleges and universities are considered "liberal arts" institutions, and thus they attempt to give you a wide array of subject to study, so that you know more than just what you intend to make your career out of. All classes are more difficult that what you got in high school. That having been said, there really aren't that many compulsary classes that all students take. For example, at the university I attended, the only classes that everyone had to take were public speaking, physical education, a couple of english and history classes, and because I attended a Jesuit University, Religion 101 and 102 (which were studies of the Old and New Testament, respectively).

However, depending on the major you take there are additional compulsory classes. For example, for science majors like me, since science also requires use of mathematics, I was required to take Calculus I and II. It was compulsory for me, but you wouldn't have to take those classes if you were, for example, a history major. Similarly, I only had to take two measly history classes, but I'm sure the history major probably enrolled in 8 or more history classes during his college days (presumably (s)he took at least one history class each semester).

I guess the bottom line is that when you go to a university, there are compulsory classes for all majors, but exactly what those compulsory classes are varies between majors, with the exception of the few that I listed above.

Here's an image of finnish education system. (http://www.oph.fi/koulutusoppaat/aikopas/kuvat/koulutusjarjestelma.gif)

Starting from the bottom: pre-school education and elementary (grades 1-9). Then it's a branch: either you go to a upper secondary, called "lukio" or "lyseo", or professional school. The first one gives you good chances to continue to a university or polytechnic while the latter basically moves you to work-life sooner. The red box at the right is for some special, narrowed-down education programs.

In my eyes, college is something between polytechnic and university, where university represents the highest education one can get. Or perhaps it is the same as polytechnic, since polytechnics are nowdays called "universities of applied sciences." The more I think about it, colleges = polytechnics (lower degrees) and universities (higher degrees).

Let me give you a quick overview of the education system in the Netherlands.
After high-school, there are three levels of education you can follow:
MBO: This is the lowest form of education you can get, after high-school. Here you can become a nurse, or... I can't really think of another example, but either way, low end jobs.
HBO: After high school, you can go here and take a four year study to get you Bachelor degree. This is a little more practical than a university study. I would call this a College in English.
University: Here you will get your Masters degree after a four or five year study, and whatever titles you want to get after that. It is more theoretical than a HBO-study.

So, that is how I use the words, mainly because I don't know a good English equivalent of our HBO, and college sounds a little less important than university.Some more examples of wat MBO studies teach you: car mechanic, plumber, etc.. This seems roughly equivalent to what you call technical/trade schools, Aldeth.

Mesmero's description of HBO is pretty much spot on. This is also equivalent to the german Fachhochschule.

Universities are more theoretical than HBO studies, and grant you a Master's degree. The studies that take 5 years are generally the harder studies, usually science stuff (engineering studies, physics, chemistry, etc.). 4 year studies are the generally easier subjects (history, languages, psychology, etc.).

Your assumption that all European systems are all the same is quite incorrect. Basically, every country in Europe has different school systems. In the Netherlands, for instance, we all go to the same school until 8th grade, and then it already splits up into VMBO, HAVO and VWO, each roughly preparing you for the MBO, HBO and University, respectively.

The lengths of the education also differs. VMBO is only 4 years, HAVO 5 years and VWO is 6 years. I believe VWO roughly corresponds to A'level education in England.

in denmark, we think of collage equal to a "gymnasium" it lasts for 3 years, and you can take either a general course, wich offers math, bi/tri/quad(?)-lingual education, such as russain, chinese, spanish, deutch, latin, french, italian, and maybe more, along with music classes, and classes of general understandig of society and politics.

and then you can go to business school, where you have some of the the same classes as the "gymnasium" but with such classes as international eceonomics, commercial, IT & computer tech, business law, book-keeping, and so on and so forth.

and then there is the university, wich is basicly and advanced 3-6 year course in mostly all of your previous classes, with majors in 3-5 classes i think.


and if you don't feel like doing all of that, you can go to technichal school, where you can become, a carpenter, chef, coder, car mechanich, or basically anything, "craftsmanship" related

Your assumption that all European systems are all the same is quite incorrect. Basically, every country in Europe has different school systems. This is very true. Each country has its own traditions and system. Though the so-called Bologna Process ( ;) ) is standardizing higher education systems to a certain extent.