college/university

X

xoxo

Senior Member
México, Español
Hi everybody,

What's the difference between college and university?

Regards,
 
    • In the US, it's the same thing. In the UK, a 'college' is for 16-18 yr olds, or for courses that others do just for the interest. A 'university' is an institution for gaining higher degrees, postgraduate degrees, doctorates etc. It is more seriously academic and normally admits only people over the age of 18.
     
    Well, In Ireland for example 3rd level education is known as college. But in england 3rd level education is known as university...

    It really depends on the country I think!
     
    Aimee123 said:
    In the US, it's the same thing. In the UK, a 'college' is for 16-18 yr olds, or for courses that others do just for the interest. A 'university' is an institution for gaining higher degrees, postgraduate degrees, doctorates etc. It is more seriously academic and normally admits only people over the age of 18.
    Click to expand...


    In the US on the other hand, a college is the first four years of university, which comprise the Bachelor´s (BA, BS, or undergraduate) Degree. People who attended college in the US, if they want to continue their education, then go to university to obtain a Master´s (MA, MS) or a Doctorate (PhD) degree.

    In the abbreviations,
    BA or MA is bachelor or master of arts
    BS or MS     is bachelor or master of science.

    Just so you know everything.
     
    College also refers to a department within the university (at least in the states). For example, within my university, my degree falls under the College of Arts and Sciences.

    The first four years of school are still at a university, we just tend to call it "college" colloquially.
     
    Thanks for expounding on what I left out, gyrocaps. I knew I shouldn't have said I said "everything" about it...
     
    A college awards a four year degree... while the university conatains seveal colleges within the organization......... college of medicine, architecture, law... where professional degrees are awarded in a given specialization..

    saludos
     
    Hola,
    tengo la siguiente duda:
    si en USA alguien termina el college (4 primeros años de la universidad) ¿es profesional?
    Y si culmina los 5 años ¿ es especialista o master? (titulo de postgrado)
    o ¿ como es ?
    y cual es la preparatoria o secundaria o bachillarato alla, ¿lo que uno llama normalmente high school?

    Agradezco sus respuestas
     
    Hola, RADV. Uní tu pregunta con otra pregunta anterior que tenía el mismo título. Lo encontré en la página del diccionario para college. Puedes encontrar las respuestas a tus otras preguntas si buscas esas palabras en wordreference.com.

    Saludos.
     
    Hola, me ayudan por favor? No me queda clara la diferencia entre University y College, he revisado varios hilos y al final el Grado que obtienes es Universitario, pero en inglés, veo q hacen diferencia y no logro comprender cuál es. Gracias :)
     
    En USA, el College normalmente ofrece entre dos o cuatro años de estudio. Al concluir los dos primeros años se obtiene el título de Asociado en Ciencias o en Arte (AS o AA degree). Al terminar los cuatro años se obtiene el Bachelor's degree (BA, BS, etc. o sea, una Licenciatura en la mayoría de países de habla castellana).

    Una University, además de los Bachelor's, ofrece estudios de postgrado de seis o más años de estudio con lo que se puede obtener Bachelor's, Master's (Maestría, Master, Masterado o Mágister, depende de tu léxico personal o país de origen) o un PhD (Doctorado).

    Ejemplo de la vida real: En la ciudad de Hattiesburg, Mississippi, existía hasta hace unos 2 o 3 años, el William Carey College (porque solamente ofrecía Licenciaturas). Hoy en día se llama William Carey University porque ahora ya ofrece estudios de postgrado.

    Espero te haya ayudado, saludos paisana :)
     
    Last edited:
    In the UK there is no difference as far as I know because different places choose to name their establishments in different ways. The two famous universities of Oxford and Cambridge are collective names for the many colleges that are part of either university. For those two there is a difference. Otherwise it's a matter of choice.

    Others may have more to say on this.
     
    Jajaja, ok, gracias, ahora me queda claro, con esa explicación que me diste. Es bastante difícil de país a país estas situaciones.
     
    ¿Verdad que "college" y "university" son intercambiables en inglés? Para decir "estudiantes universitarios" ¿cúal suena mejor? La frase es: its users (of the library) are mainly historians, art critics and university/college students.
    Gracias!
     
    Es un texto que está en gallego y lo estoy traduciendo al inglés. La frase que aparece en mi pregunta es parte de mi traducción.
     
    También estoy interesado en saberlo.

    Estuve dando clases en un par de institutos en Inglaterra y ambos tenían el calificativo de "college" o "college of further education".

    Nunca me había parado a pensarlo. En ningún caso he oído referirse a ellos como "secondary schools", como se nos enseña en España cuando estudiamos inglés.

    Sin embargo sí es frecuente escuchar "high school" para referirse a un instituto de educación secundaria en EEUU.

    Pero en Internet o en películas norteamericanas parece que "college" hace referencia a la universidad.

    ¿Algún nativo podría arrojar luz sobre el asunto? Gracias.
     
    Masood said:
    Can you give us the Spanish version? Also, who is your intended audience? British? American? Other?
    Click to expand...

    The Spanish version uses "estudiantes universitarios", and the audience could be "all of the above" because it is going to appear in an art center.

    (let me just add -in case I forget- that I appreciate your interest :))
     
    Kindred said:
    The Spanish version uses "estudiantes universitarios", and the audience could be "all of the above" because it is going to appear in an art center.

    (let me just add -in case I forget- that I appreciate your interest :))
    Click to expand...
    Para que la traducción tenga sentido a toda la gente, me quedaría con university. Creo que en algunos paises como los EEUU college/university se puede utilizar indistintamente.

    Mejor si esperas otras sugerencias.
     
    Pero entonces, en Inglaterra, ¿qué diferencia hay entre ambos términos? Yo también estoy interesado en saberlo. Gracias.
     
    Masood said:
    Si quieren, los que asisten a un college, puede que vayan a una universidad después, si han aprobado sus examenes.

    Perdona la gramática.
    Click to expand...

    Then, I think, a college in UK is like a "High School" in USA or like an I.E.S. ("instituto de Enseñanza Secundaria") in Spain, isn't it?
    Thanks.
     
    josera-- said:
    Then, I think, a college in UK is like a "High School" in USA or like an I.E.S. ("instituto de Enseñanza Secundaria") in Spain, isn't it?
    Thanks.
    Click to expand...
    Mmm, not quite. Generally, those that attend college are aged 16 and over. This is post-secondary education in the UK. They do exams to gain entry to university or do courses to take them directly into employment such as plumbing, car mechanics, nursing, accounting, IT etc.
     
    Ohh, very interesting. Then I think is something like "FP Grado Superior" in Spain.
    ("FP"=Formación Profesional); after "FP Grado Superior" you can go to University if you pass your exams or you can get an employment.
    In Spain we have also "FP Grado medio", but in this case it is not necessary you have finished your secondary studies if you want to access to this other FP level.
     
    It could be like FP in Spain, but think that maybe we dont have anything like college the ... as it´s something between high school and university! or could it be like academia in Spanish?

    I was one of those who thought that college and university had the same meaning ...
     
    AngelBenitez said:
    I was one of those who thought that college and university had the same meaning ...
    Click to expand...
    Para que te confunda más (!), las universidades de Oxford y Cambridge tienen colleges (ej. Jesus College, Magdalene College etc), pero creo que en realidad simplemente son los nombres de los edificios que forman partes de la misma universidad.
     
    I think it is not possible a literal translation, because of the differences between education systems. In Spain, we haven't the same organization. So, I think it's not worth going on with this.
     
    josera-- said:
    So, I think it's not worth going on with this.
    Click to expand...

    It´s worth for me at least. I find it very interesting, and it´s something I´ve been wrong about ... Thank you Masood for your information!

    To sum up according we all have said.

    In USA: it´s the same college and university

    In UK: college is the education between secondary school (high school in the states) and the university, after which you can go to university or start working.

    Now I wonder if there is an equivalent of the British college term in American English ...
     
    Well, that was pretty interesting and enlightening. Thanks for the help (and I'll be using "university").
     
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