# What is the difference between a college and a university? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 26, 2002, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-a-college-and-a-university/138906 "2002-11-26T15:56:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-a-college-and-a-university/138906/21 "2002-11-26T20:40:07Z")
The training center where I work is called, by the company, “Chevron Technical University”. No colleges, just some computer and management type classes. Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![mazzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@mazzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mazzer)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-a-college-and-a-university/138906/22 "2002-11-26T20:59:15Z")
Don’t forget about Hamburger Univeristy, McDonald’s executive training program. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-a-college-and-a-university/138906/23 "2002-11-26T21:23:38Z")
In Ontario, back in the 70’s, the distinction was based on whether the institution could grant degrees. One could be accepted at a college, for a degree program, but the college had to be associated with a university recognized by the province. I recall the Ryerson was once a college, but is now called a university becuase it can now grant degrees. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-a-college-and-a-university/138906/24 "2002-11-26T22:15:08Z")
The College of William and Mary is another example of a university-sized institution that still calls itself a college, purely out of tradition. ---
**Author:** ![brad\_d](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@brad\_d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brad_d)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-a-college-and-a-university/138906/25 "2002-11-26T22:41:20Z")
For an example in the other direction, [Southwestern University](http://www.southwestern.edu) in Georgetown, Texas is an institution more in the traditional “college” mold. It awards only bachelor’s degrees, offering no graduate programs at all. SU has a somewhat tortuous history, but from what I can gather the current school came about as Texas University in 1873, and was changed to Southwestern University two years later. However, the charter of TU/SU also essentially absorbs as its own the graduates of the by-then-defunct Rutersville College, Wesleyan College, Soule University, and McKenzie College. Read the full story [here](http://www.southwestern.edu/about/history.html) if you really care. The reason I looked all that mess up was the thought that perhaps it began life as “Southwestern College” and then changed its name. But that’s not what happened. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-a-college-and-a-university/138906/26 "2002-11-26T23:08:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by brad\_d \* > \*\*I can amplify what **chriszarate** mentioned about the use of the term “college” at schools like Rice (where I did my undergrad work). > > … > > The term “college” has a relatively peculiar (for the US) meaning at Rice, and one which causes a fair amount of confusion. > > The undergraduate student body is divided into eight “residential colleges” (simply “colleges” for short), which are patterned after the entities by the same name at places like Oxford and Cambridge in the UK. (At least, that’s what I was led to understand). The term “college” can refer to either the students who make up the college, or to the building that they live in. > …\*\* the University of California at Santa Cruz is organized in a virtually identical manner. ---
**Author:** ![SC\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@SC\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SC_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2002, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-a-college-and-a-university/138906/27 "2002-11-28T07:49:06Z")
The diference between a college and a university? A couple of extra thousand dollars worth of tuition. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Doris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@Sir\_Doris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Doris)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2002, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-a-college-and-a-university/138906/28 "2002-11-28T09:29:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by everton \* > \*\*That’s only a partial definition. > > The formal use has two cases: > > 1. As **Tuco** says - an institution attended after completing compulsory schooling, which offers qualifications below degree level, or > 2. One of the divisions of a collegiate university, such as Oxford, Cambridge, London, Durham etc. [A full list can be found here](http://www.webmaster.bham.ac.uk/ukuwww.html). \*\* There are also colleges of higher education, offering HND and degree courses. Some have changed their names recently (eg "University College, Worcester " ) and one or two became univeristies (e.g. Cheltenham and Gloucester College). The distinction between colleges or institutes of HE and universities is that the former do not carry out research (so can’t award docorates). I presume that, broadly speaking, this is not so dissimilar from the US situation. If any University of London alumni or undergrads are reading this, perhaps they could clarify something for me. This institution always appears slightly different than other collegiate universities, in that although I’ve met academics that say the work at Cambridge or Durham, for example, I’ve never heard anyone same the work at (or indeed study at) the University of London - it’s always “I’m at Imperial” or “I’ve moved to Goldsmith’s”. I got the impression that although the uni still awards degrees, the colleges might have more to do with the actual running of courses that at other such institutions (e.g. a chemistry degree is run by and attended by students of Imperial, whereas at say, Oxford, it is run by the univeristy and attended by students of several colleges. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2002, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-a-college-and-a-university/138906/29 "2002-11-28T13:06:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SC\_Wolf \* > \*\*The diference between a college and a university? > > A couple of extra thousand dollars worth of tuition. \*\* Not at all. Ever look at the tuition for Amherst or Swarthmore? $36,000/year for the latter. Harvard is actually ever-so-slightly cheaper (by a couple hundred bucks or so.) ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2002, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-a-college-and-a-university/138906/30 "2002-11-28T13:30:12Z")
From the [University of Cambridge](http://www.cam.ac.uk/cambuniv/colleges.html) site: > [@](#): > > There are 31 Colleges in Cambridge. Three are for women (New Hall, Newnham and Lucy Cavendish) and two admit only graduates (Clare Hall and Darwin). The remainder house and teach all students enrolled in courses of study or research at the University. > > Each College is an independent institution with its own property and income. The Colleges appoint their own staff and are responsible for selecting students, in accordance with University regulations. The teaching of students is shared between the Colleges and University departments. Degrees are awarded by the University. I am a member of both the University of Cambridge and Darwin College. One of the conditions of entry from the University was that I had to find a College willing to accept me before the University would agree to teach me. I have to pay two sets of fees also, one to the University and one to my College - cheeky b\*stards! Being a member of a College entitles you to use all resources belonging to the University, however each College has facilities that are only available to members of that particular College: in many cases, the libraries of individual Colleges are much better than departmental university libraries, which is a bit of a pain if you are stuck in one of the ‘lesser’ Colleges. ---
**Author:** ![TalkAboutIslam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4da419/32.png) [@TalkAboutIslam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TalkAboutIslam)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2002, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-a-college-and-a-university/138906/31 "2002-11-29T01:28:21Z")
in college you get prepared to go to the university … in the university, you simply wish you go back to college… ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@Dave\_D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_D)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2002, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-a-college-and-a-university/138906/32 "2002-11-29T07:27:02Z")
Bah, everybody knows a university is what a college becomes when it stops caring about its students 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Mahma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@Joe\_Mahma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Mahma)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2002, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-a-college-and-a-university/138906/33 "2002-11-29T10:32:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by astorian \* > \*\*Historically, a college was a school that conferred only bachelor’s degrees, while a university was an institution consisting of several different schools offering several different levels of degrees (bachelor’s, master’s, doctorates). \*\* An exception to this historical rule would be medical colleges, which (obviously) awarded doctorates. These days, many, if not all, of them have changed their names to universities, because they incorporate other health-field-related colleges (nursing, pharmacology, radiation technology, etc.). ---
**Author:** ![mrcrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@mrcrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrcrow)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2002, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-a-college-and-a-university/138906/34 "2002-11-29T10:48:40Z")
there are non conferring colleges within the university conferring structure as said. the word college seems to have many meanings university is quite explicit. ---
**Author:** ![TalkAboutIslam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4da419/32.png) [@TalkAboutIslam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TalkAboutIslam)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2002, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-a-college-and-a-university/138906/35 "2002-11-29T15:26:23Z")
dear mrcrow true college has many different meanings in different countries I visited… in France, College is not what College is in the US ---
**Author:** ![mrcrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@mrcrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrcrow)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2002, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-a-college-and-a-university/138906/36 "2002-11-29T15:37:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TalkAboutIslam \* > \*\*dear mrcrow > true > college has many different meanings in different countries I visited… > In France, College is not what College is in the US \*\* that what i was thinking. like the college of cardinals etc. my dictionary probing gave me the impression that a college was a society in a certain discipline…college of surgeons etc brought together by a uni-versity …one group the focus of many within. i went to college here in the uk but it was not a university and all we got were advanced technical qualifications which allowed us to go to university and sit further examinations for a degree. oxford and cambridge have colleges which do not confer degrees. cheers 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TalkAboutIslam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4da419/32.png) [@TalkAboutIslam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TalkAboutIslam)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2002, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-a-college-and-a-university/138906/37 "2002-11-29T16:11:36Z")
Really ?? Colleges that do not confer degrees ?? that is just a simple step of school then… ---
**Author:** ![mrcrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@mrcrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrcrow)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2002, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-a-college-and-a-university/138906/38 "2002-11-29T16:17:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TalkAboutIslam \* > \*\*Really ?? > Colleges that do not confer degrees ?? > that is just a simple step of school then… \*\* 3 a : a self-governing constituent body of a university offering living quarters and instruction but not granting degrees \ i think the degree is granted by the examining body and not the college faculty the colleges i went to were technical colleges some in later years became centres for advanced learnin cats and were given degree invidulation and process its been a long time since i sat in a classroom:) ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2002, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-a-college-and-a-university/138906/39 "2002-11-29T16:30:19Z")
As the quote posted by **Quirm** above indicates, the degrees awarded by the University of Cambridge are awarded by the university, not by the colleges into which it is divided. The same applies to [Oxford University](http://www.ox.ac.uk/aboutoxford/unicol.shtml): [quote] Colleges and Halls: [ul][li]select their own undergraduate students; [/li][li]provide accommodation, meals, common rooms, libraries, sports and social facilities and pastoral care for those students; [/li][li]are responsible for students’ tutorial teaching and welfare. [/ul][/li]The University [ul][li]determines the content of the courses within which college teaching takes place; [/li][li]organises lectures and seminars; [/li][li]provides a wide range of resources for teaching and learning in the form of libraries, laboratories, museums, computing facilities, etc; [/li][li]selects and supervises graduate students, examines theses; [/li][li]sets and marks examinations; [/li][li]awards degrees.[/ul][/li][/quote] ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2002, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-a-college-and-a-university/138906/40 "2002-12-01T02:13:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by brad\_d \* > **I was a member and resident of the spectacularly ugly Lovett College…** [Rice hijack] Lovett?!! Lovett sucks!! [/Rice hijack] Nice description of the Rice University college system, **brad\_d**. For those interested, more info may be found here: [http://www.rice.edu/student/colleges.html](http://www.rice.edu/student/colleges.html) Non-Rice folks may not appreciate how much of undergraduate student life revolves around the residential colleges. When I was a student, it was invariably the first question asked of another student upon first meeting them. Incidentally, just this year a ninth residential college opened at Rice, after a break of some thirty years from the establishment of the eighth, Sid Richardson College (Sid Rich), my own college. Also of interest to the OP is the fact that **Rice University** changed its name from the **Rice Institute** in the 1960s. It is my understanding that Rice intended to emphasize its broader curriculum from that of the strict science/engineering it was then known for. –robby Sid Richardson College (overlooking Lovett) Rice University 1991 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-a-college-and-a-university/138906.md?page=1)