College. University. Words that we tend to mix and match. Americans tend to refer to everything involving higher education as “college” while the British prefer “uni”.
On the one hand, anyone who has gone to university has gone to college, as a university is made up of colleges, schools, halls, etc., offering up undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate degrees.
A college is smaller and focuses more on four-year undergraduate degrees.
If you’re more interested in a quicker or more focused education, you can get two-year degrees, associate degrees, vocational licenses, job training certificates, or take adult enrichment classes, etc., by attending community (usually a public 2-year institution) or junior colleges (usually a private two-year institution) that are a great way to frugally get those intro classes out of the way, set yourself up for in-state tuition before you move to a more expensive college for more involved courses, increase the chances of being hired for entry level jobs and/or higher starting pay, or simply enjoy learning new things. Technical, beauty, culinary, etc., colleges are more focused on technical education.
Understanding these differences is another way to give your character personality…up or down. I know I have a different perspective on Gin Blanco in Jennifer Estep’s Elemental Assassin series with the classes she chooses.
You may also want to look in at “Collage versus College” and/or Dissertation versus Thesis“.
Word Confusions…
…started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noir for you from either end.
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| College | University |
|---|---|
| Credit to: Apple Dictionary.com; Dictionary.com: college, university | |
University of Michigan Law School by Flavinista and is under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. — Universities frequently use school in place of college. |
MIT Main Campus (aerial shot) is Dr Kenneth‘s own work and under the CC BY 3.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. — It’s no surprise that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a university. |
| Part of Grammar: | |
| Noun
Plural: colleges |
Noun
Plural: universities |
An educational institution or establishment, in particular one providing a general or liberal arts education or specialized professional or vocational training
An organized group of professional people with particular aims, duties, and privileges
The building or buildings occupied by an institution of higher education A company
[A.k.a. collegium] A body of clergy living together on a foundation for religious service or similar activity [British; slang] A prison |
An educational institution designed for instruction, examination, or both, of students in many branches of advanced learning, conferring degrees in various faculties, and often embodying colleges and similar institutions |
| Examples: | |
| I’m at college, studying graphic design.
My brother wanted to go to college. There are more than thirty colleges at Oxford University, each with its own hall, bar, common room, and library. Eton College is a 13–18 age range independent boarding school for boys in the town of Eton, near Windsor in Berkshire, England. This sort of curriculum was strongest in the private colleges and state high schools, opening for many of their pupils a pathway to the professions. Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The college was shocked by his death. The electoral college came under fire in the 2020 presidential election. After the shakedown, the guards took him back to college. |
The University of Oxford is one of the leading universities in the world.
The University of California is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. I attended the University of California-Berkeley. The university buildings are badly in need of an upgrade. He is a university professor. |
| Derivatives: | |
| Adjective: college-bound, postcollege, precollege Noun: postcollege, precollege, subcollege |
Adjective: antiuniversity, interuniversity, universitarian Noun: antiuniversity, counteruniversity, universitarian |
| History of the Word: | |
| Late Middle English from the Old French, from the Latin collegium meaning partnership, from collega meaning partner in office, from col- (together with) + legare (depute). | Middle English from the Old French universite, from the Latin universitas meaning the whole, in the late Latin society, guild, from universus. |
C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan…which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them…and we’ll all benefit!
Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.
Pinterest Photo Credits:
Magdalen College Oxford University (aerial image) by John Fielding is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons.
