College

For other uses, see College (disambiguation).

King's College, one of the constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge

A college (Latin: collegium) is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations. A college may be an degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, an institution within a federal university, an institution offering vocational, or a secondary school.

In the United States and Ireland, "college" and "university" are loosely interchangeable, whereas in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and other Commonwealth countries, a "college" may be an institution between school and university level or a constituent school within a university.

Etymology

In ancient Rome a collegium was a club or society, a group of persons living together, under a common set of rules (con- = "together" + leg- = "law" or lego = "I choose"). As well as an educational institution, the term can also refer to any group of colleagues, such as an electoral college, a college of arms or the College of Cardinals.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, usage of the word "college" remains the loosest, encompassing a range of institutions:

Secondary education

Some secondary schools, both state (e.g. Ivybridge Community College) and independent (e.g. Eton College), use "college" as part of their name. Some secondary schools in Cambridgeshire are called village colleges and aim to be centres for the community as well as for their students. In addition, although many state and most independent schools have sixth forms, some students study for A Levels at separate sixth form colleges.

Further education

A further education college (FE college) is an institution between secondary school and university. It usually offers a wide range of vocational courses and adult education. Most students are aged from 16 into adulthood, but some 14-16 year olds are sent from their schools on a part-time basis for vocational study that the schools are not equipped to deliver. Many FE colleges offer A Levels, often in a sixth-form centre. Some colleges have higher education provision, normally accredited by a university in the region.

Higher education

Main article: Colleges within universities in the United Kingdom

In relation to universities, the term college normally refers to a part of the university which does not have degree-awarding powers in itself. Degrees are always awarded by universities whereas colleges are institutions or organizations which prepare students for the degree. Most universities do not have colleges; those that do are referred to as collegiate universities.

In the University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University of London and University of the Arts London (and formerly in the University of Wales), colleges prepare students for the degree of the university of which the college is a part (although the colleges of London are now de facto universities in their own right). In the other collegiate universities, including the University of Lancaster, University of York, University of Kent, University of St Andrews and University of Durham, the colleges only provide accommodation and pastoral care.

A college may also be an independent institution which prepares students to sit as external candidates at other universities or has the authority to run courses that lead to the degrees of those universities. A university college is now an independent higher education institution that has the power to award degrees, but does not have university status, although it is usually working towards it. The term used to refer to colleges set up by universities in other towns, all of which have now been chartered as universities in their own right (e.g. the University of Newcastle, which was originally a university college of the University of Durham).

"College" may also be a name given to large groupings of faculties or departments, notably in the University of Edinburgh, and after recent restructuring, the University of Birmingham.

Professional bodies

The Royal College of Organists, the Royal College of Surgeons and various other Royal Colleges are professional associations.

Law courts

The College of Justice refers to the Supreme Courts of Scotland and its associated bodies.

United States

Saint Anselm College

Agnes Scott College

Boston College

Occidental College

Main article: Higher education in the United States

In American English "college" usually designates liberal arts colleges that provide education primarily at the undergraduate level. It can also refer to schools which offer a vocational, business, engineering, or technical curriculum. The term can either refer to a self-contained institution that has no graduate studies or to the undergraduate school of a full university (i.e., that also has a separate graduate faculty).

In popular usage, the word "college" is the generic term for any post-secondary undergraduate education. Americans go to "college" after high school, regardless of whether the specific institution is formally a college or a university, and the word and its derivatives are the standard terms used to describe the institutions and experiences associated with American post-secondary undergraduate education.

Colleges vary in terms of size, degree, and length of stay. Two-year colleges, also known as junior or community colleges, usually offer an associate's degree, and four-year colleges usually offer a bachelor's degree. Often, these are entirely undergraduate institutions, although some have graduate school programs.

Four-year institutions in the U.S. that emphasize a liberal arts curriculum are known as liberal arts colleges; an example of a traditional liberal arts college is pictured to the right, Saint Anselm College. These schools have traditionally emphasized instruction at the undergraduate level, although advanced research may still occur at these institutions.

While there is no national standard in the United States, the term "university" primarily designates institutions that provide undergraduate and graduate education. A university typically has as its core and its largest internal division an undergraduate college teaching a liberal arts curriculum, also culminating in a bachelor's degree. What often distinguishes a university is having, in addition, one or more Graduate schools engaged in both teaching graduate classes and engaged in research. Often these would be called a School of Law or School of Medicine, (but may also be called a college of law, or a faculty of law, etc.).

On the other hand, public and private universities are typically more research-oriented institutions which service both an undergraduate and graduate student body. Graduate programs may grant a Master of Arts or a variety of Master's degrees, including MBAs and MFAs. The doctorate is the highest academic degree in the United States, and the PhD is given in many fields. Medical schools award MDs or DOs while law schools award the JD. The extent to which graduate programs are integrated with undergraduate studies varies by university and by program. These institutions usually have a large student body. Introductory seminars on the undergraduate level can have a class size in the hundreds in some of the larger schools. Compared to liberal arts colleges, the interaction between students and full-time faculty can be limited and a higher number of undergraduate classes may be taught by graduate student TAs.

Some institutions, such as Dartmouth College, and The College of William & Mary, have retained the term "college" in their names for historical reasons or because of an undergraduate focus, although they offer higher degrees. And many colleges may offer a Master of Arts degree in some field without a full curriculum leading to a PhD.

Usage of the terms varies among the states, each of which operates its own institutions and licenses private ones. In 1996 for example, Georgia changed all of its four-year institutions previously designated as colleges to universities, and all of its vocational technology schools to technical colleges. (Previously, only the four-year research institutions, apart from the well-established historic exception of the Georgia Institute of Technology, were called "universities".) Other states have changed the names of individual colleges, many having started as a teachers' college or vocational school (such as an A&M — an agricultural and mechanical school) that ended up as a full-fledged state university.

"University" and "college" do not exhaust all possible titles for an American institution of higher education. Other options include "institute" (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), "academy" (United States Military Academy), "union" (Cooper Union), "conservatory" (New England Conservatory), and "school" (Juilliard School), although these titles are only for their official names. In colloquial use, they are still referred to as "college" when referring to their undergraduate studies.

The term college is also, as in the United Kingdom, used for a constituent semi-autonomous part of a larger university but generally organized on academic rather than residential lines. For example, at many institutions, the undergraduate portion of the university can be briefly referred to as the college (such as The College of the University of Chicago, Harvard College at Harvard, or Columbia College at Columbia) while at others each of the faculties may be called a "college" (the "college of engineering", the "college of nursing", and so forth). There exist other variants for historical reasons; for example, Duke University, which was called Trinity College until the 1920s, still calls its main undergraduate subdivision Trinity College of Arts and Sciences. Some American universities, such as Princeton, Rice, and Yale do have residential colleges along the lines of Oxford or Cambridge, but the name was clearly adopted in homage to the British system. Unlike the Oxbridge colleges, these residential colleges are not autonomous legal entities nor are they typically much involved in education itself, being primarily concerned with room, board, and social life. At the University of Michigan, University of California, San Diego and the University of California, Santa Cruz, however, each of the residential colleges do teach its own core writing courses and has its own distinctive set of graduation requirements.

The origin of the U.S. usage

The founders of the first institutions of higher education in the United States were graduates of the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. The small institutions they founded would not have seemed to them like universities — they were tiny and did not offer the higher degrees in medicine and theology. Furthermore, they were not composed of several small colleges. Instead, the new institutions felt like the Oxford and Cambridge colleges they were used to — small communities, housing and feeding their students, with instruction from residential tutors (as in the United Kingdom, described above). When the first students came to be graduated, these "colleges" assumed the right to confer degrees upon them, usually with authority—for example, The College of William & Mary has a Royal Charter from the British monarchy allowing it to confer degrees while Dartmouth College has a charter permitting it to award degrees "as are usually granted in either of the universities, or any other college in our realm of Great Britain."

The leaders of Harvard College (which granted America's first degrees in 1642) might have thought of their college as the first of many residential colleges which would grow up into a New Cambridge university. However, over time, few new colleges were founded there, and Harvard grew and added higher faculties. Eventually, it changed its title to university, but the term "college" had stuck and "colleges" have arisen across the United States.

In U.S. usage, the word "college" embodies not only a particular type of school, but has historically been used to refer to the general concept of higher education when it is not necessary to specify a school, as in "going to college" or "college savings accounts" offered by banks.

The Morrill Land-Grant Act

In addition to private colleges and universities, the U.S. also has a system of government funded, public universities. Many were founded under the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act of 1862. When the Morrill Act was established, the original colleges on the east coast, primarily those of the Ivy League and several religious based colleges, were the only form of higher education available, and were often confined only to the children of the elite. A movement had arisen to bring a form of more practical higher education to the masses, as "…many politicians and educators wanted to make it possible for all young Americans to receive some sort of advanced education." The Morrill Act "…made it possible for the new western states to establish colleges for the citizens." Its goal was to make higher education more easily accessible to the citizenry of the country, specifically to improve agricultural systems by providing training and scholarship in the production and sales of agricultural products, and to provide formal education in "…agriculture, home economics, mechanical arts, and other professions that seemed practical at the time."

The act was eventually extended to allow all states that had remained with the union during the American Civil War, and eventually all states, to establish such institutions. Most of the colleges established under the Morrill Act have since become full universities, and some are among the elite of the world.

Professional bodies

Numerous professional bodies in the U.S. also use the appellation "College". Examples in medicine include the American College of Physicians, the American College of Emergency Physicians, and the American College of Surgeons, in osteopathic medicine the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians and the American College of Osteopathic Internists, and in dentistry the American College of Dentists and the American College of Prosthodontists.

Other English speaking nations

Influenced by their origins in the British Empire, by contact with and sometimes imitation of U.S. academia, and even by modern American pop culture, the rest of the English-speaking world seems to have adopted a mix of the U.S. and British practices.

Australia

In Australia, the term "college" has several different, and unrelated, meanings.

• It can refer to an institution of tertiary education that is smaller than a university, run independently or as part of a university. Following a reform in the 1980s many of the formerly independent colleges now belong to a larger university.
• The term can also be used to refer to parts of a university. In that context there are residential colleges which provide residence for students, both undergraduate and postgraduate, called university colleges, as in the United Kingdom. These colleges often provide additional tutorial assistance, and some host theological study. Many colleges have strong traditions and rituals, so are a combination of dormitory style accommodation and fraternity or sorority culture.
• Less commonly college can refer to a superfaculty organizational unit, as in the ANU Colleges.
• Most TAFEs, which offer certificate and diploma vocational courses, are styled "TAFE colleges" or "Colleges of TAFE". Some private institutions offering TAFE certificates, university bridging courses, or theological courses of study (i.e. Bible colleges) style themselves "Institutes" or "Colleges".
• Many private as well as state high schools that provide secondary education are called "colleges" in Australia. As secondary education is managed by state authorities rather than nationally, the term's use varies on a regional basis.
• Some professional and registration bodies, especially in the medical arena, which are not educational bodies style themselves a "College" or "Institute": for example, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. In some cases, they have legal status and members of a profession must obtain and maintain College membership to be allowed to practice.

In Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory, "college" refers to the final two years of high school (years eleven and twelve), and the institutions which provide this. In this context, "college" is a system independent of the other years of high school. Here, the expression is a shorter version of matriculation college.

In the state of Victoria, most public schools providing secondary education are known as secondary colleges, though most Victorians still refer to this level of education as "high school".

In Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory, "College" is used in the name of all state high schools built since the late 1990s, and in some older ones which have been renamed since that time. The term for the sector, however, is still "high schools", or in official Government usage, "schools with secondary students". Many private or independent schools, including many who accept K-7 students, are styled "Colleges".

In New South Wales, some high schools, especially multi-campus schools resulting from mergers, are known as "secondary colleges".

In Queensland, the term college is used by some private secondary institutions, although some newer schools which accept primary and high school students are being styled "State College", whilst schools which offer only secondary education are styled "State High School".

Canada

Main article: College (Canada)

In Canada, the term "college" usually refers to a community college or a technical, applied arts, or applied science school. These are post-secondary institutions granting certificates, diplomas, associate's degree, and bachelor's degrees. In Quebec, the term is seldom used, the equivalent being CEGEP (College d'enseignement général et professionnel, "college of general and professional education"), a form of post-secondary education specific to the Quebec education system that is required to continue onto university (unless one applies as a 'mature' student, meaning 21 years of age or over, and out of the educational system for at least 2 years), or to learn a trade. In Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta, there are also institutions which are designated university colleges, as they only grant undergraduate degrees. This is to differentiate between universities, which have both undergraduate and graduate programs and those that do not. In contrast to usage in the United States, there is a strong distinction between "college" and "university" in Canada. In conversation, one specifically would say either "They are going to university" (i.e., studying for a three- or four-year degree at a university) or "They are going to college" (suggesting a technical or career college).

The Royal Military College of Canada, a full-fledged degree-granting university, does not follow the naming convention used by the rest of the country, nor does its sister school Royal Military College Saint-Jean or the now closed Royal Roads Military College.

The term "college" also applies to distinct entities within a university (usually referred to as "federated colleges" or "affiliated colleges"),to the residential colleges in the United Kingdom. These colleges act independently, but in affiliation or federation with the university that actually grants the degrees. For example, Trinity College was once an independent institution, but later became federated with the University of Toronto, and is now one of its residential colleges. In the case of Memorial University of Newfoundland, located in St. John's, the Corner Brook campus is called Sir Wilfred Grenfell College. Occasionally, "college" refers to a subject specific faculty within a university that, while distinct, are neither federated nor affiliated—College of Education, College of Medicine, College of Dentistry, College of Biological Science among others.

There are also universities referred to as art colleges, empowered to grant academic degrees of BFA, Bdes, MFA, Mdes and sometimes collaborative PhD degrees. Some of them have "university" in their name (Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University and Emily Carr University of Art and Design) and others do not (Ontario College of Art & Design).

In a number of Canadian cities, many government-run secondary schools are called "collegiates" or "collegiate institutes" (C.I.), a complicated form of the word "college" which avoids the usual "post-secondary" connotation. This is because these secondary schools have traditionally focused on academic, rather than vocational, subjects and ability levels (for example, collegiates offered Latin while vocational schools offered technical courses). Some private secondary schools in Toronto (such as Upper Canada College) choose to use the word "college" in their names nevertheless. Some secondary schools elsewhere in the country, particularly ones within the separate school system, may also use the word "college" or "collegiate" in their names.

A small number of the oldest professional associations use "college" in the name in the British sense, such as the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

A new online and distance education ( e-learning ) use "college" in the name in the British sense, for example : Canada Capstone College.

Hong Kong

See also: Education in Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, the term "college" has a range of meanings, as in the British case. In the first case it can refer to a secondary school. It is also used by tertiary institutions as either part of their names or to refer to a constituent part of the university, such as the colleges in the collegiate Chinese University of Hong Kong; or to a residence hall of a university, such as St. John's College, University of Hong Kong. The term college is also used in the names of professional bodies.

India

See also: Colleges and institutes in India

In India, the term "college" is commonly reserved for institutions that offer degrees at year 12 ("Junior College", similar to American high schools), and those that offer the bachelor's degree. Generally, colleges are located in different parts of a state and all of them are affiliated to a regional university. The colleges offer programmes under that university. Examinations are conducted by the university at the same time for all colleges under its affiliation. There are several hundred universities and each university has affiliated colleges.

The first liberal arts and sciences college in India was C. M. S. College Kottayam, Kerala (estd. 1817), and the Presidency College, Kolkata (estd. 1817), initially known as Hindu College. The first commerce and economics college in India was Sydenham College, Mumbai, which was established in 1913. The first Missionary institution to impart Western style education in India was the Scottish Church College, Calcutta (estd. 1830). The first modern university in India was the University of Calcutta (estd. January 1857). The first research institution for the study of the social sciences and ushering the spirit of Oriental research was the Asiatic Society, (estd. 1784). The first college for the study of Christian theology and ecumenical enquiry was Serampore College (estd. 1818).

The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Indian Statistical Institute, Indian Institute of Management, Indian Institute of Science and Tata Institute of Fundamental Research are examples of autonomous institutions in India that award their own degrees.

Republic of Ireland

Parliament Square, Trinity College, Dublin.

See also: List of universities in the Republic of Ireland

In the Republic of Ireland the term "college" is usually limited to an institution of tertiary education, but the term is quite generic within this field. University students often say they attend "college" rather than "university", with the term college being more popular in wider society. This is possibly due to the fact that, until 1989, no university provided teaching or research directly. Instead, these were offered by a constituent college of the university, in the case of the National University of Ireland and University of Dublin — or at least in strict legal terms. There are many secondary education institutions that use the word college. Many secondary schools, formerly known as technical colleges, were renamed as community colleges. These are secondary institutions in contrast to the American community college.

The state's only ancient university, the University of Dublin, is really English in its origins and, until recently, its outlook. Created during the reign of Elizabeth I, it is modelled on the universities of Cambridge and Oxford. However, only one constituent college was ever founded, hence the curious position of Trinity College, Dublin today. For a time, degrees in Dublin Institute of Technology were also conferred by the university. However, that institution now has its own degree awarding powers and is considering applying for full university status.

Among more modern foundations, the National University of Ireland, founded in 1908, consisted of constituent colleges and recognised colleges until 1997. The former are now referred to as constituent universities — institutions that are essentially universities in their own right. The National University can trace its existence back to 1850 and the creation of the Queen's University of Ireland and the creation of the Catholic University of Ireland in 1854. From 1880, the degree awarding roles of these two universities was taken over by the Royal University of Ireland, which remained until the creation of the National University in 1908 and the Queen's University Belfast.

The state's two new universities Dublin City University and University of Limerick were initially National Institute for Higher Education institutions. These institutions offered university level academic degrees and research from the start of their existence and were awarded university status in 1989 in recognition of this. These two universities now follow the general trend of universities having associated colleges offering their degrees.

Third level technical education in the state has been carried out in the Institutes of Technology, which were established from the 1970s as Regional Technical Colleges. These institutions have delegated authority which entitles them to give degrees and diplomas from the Higher Education and Training Awards Council in their own name.

A number of Private Colleges exist such as DBS, providing undergraduate and postgraduate courses validated by HETAC and in some cases by other Universities.

Other types of college include Colleges of Education, such as National College of Ireland. These are specialist institutions, often linked to a university, which provide both undergraduate and postgraduate academic degrees for people who want to train as teachers.

New Zealand

The University of Otago.

In New Zealand the word "college" normally refers to a secondary school for ages 13 to 17. In contrast, most older schools of the same type are "high schools". Also, single-sex schools are more likely to be "Someplace Boys/Girls High School", but there are also very many coeducational "high schools". The difference between "high schools" and "colleges" is usually only one of terminology. However, many private or integrated schools are known as "such and such college" There does seem to be a geographical difference in terminology: "colleges" most frequently appear in the North Island, whereas "high schools" are more common in the South Island.

The constituent colleges of the former University of New Zealand (such as Canterbury University College) have become independent universities. Some halls of residence associated with New Zealand universities retain the name of "college", particularly at the University of Otago (which although brought under the umbrella of the University of New Zealand, already possessed university status and degree awarding powers). The institutions formerly known as "Teacher-training colleges" now style themselves "College of education".

Some universities, such as the University of Canterbury, have divided their University into constituent administrative "Colleges" - the College of Arts containing departments that teach Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, College of Science containing Science departments, and so on. This is largely modelled on the Cambridge model, discussed above.

Like the United Kingdom some professional bodies in New Zealand style themselves as "colleges", for example, the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, the R.A.C. of Physicians

Philippines

In the Philippines, colleges usually refer to institutions of learning that grant degrees but whose scholastic fields are not as diverse as that of a university (University of the Philippines, Ateneo De Manila University, De La Salle University, University of Santo Tomas, Far Eastern University), such as the San Beda College which specializes in law and the Mapua Institute of Technology which specializes in engineering, or to component units within universities that do not grant degrees but rather facilitate the instruction of a particular field, such as a College of Science and College of Engineering, among many other colleges of the University of the Philippines.

A state college may not have the word "college" on its name, but may have several component colleges, or departments. Thus, the Eulogio Amang Rodriguez Institute of Science and Technology is a state college by classification.

Usually, the term "college" is also thought of as a hierarchical demarcation between the term "university", and quite a number of colleges seek to be recognized as universities as a sign of improvement in academic standards (Colegio de San Juan de Letran, San Beda College), and increase in the diversity of the offered degree programs (called "courses"). For private colleges, this may be done through a survey and evaluation by the Commission on Higher Education and accrediting organizations, as was the case of Urios College which is now the Fr. Saturnino Urios University. For state colleges, it is usually done by a legislation by the Congress or Senate. In common usage, "going to college" simply means attending school for an undergraduate degree, whether it's from an institution recognized as a college or a university.

Singapore

The term "college" in Singapore is generally only used for pre-university educational institutions called "Junior Colleges", which provide the final two years of secondary education (equivalent to sixth form in British terms or grades 11-12 in the American system). Since 1 January 2005, the term also refers to the three campuses of the Institute of Technical Education with the introduction of the "collegiate system", in which the three institutions are called ITE College East, ITE College Central, and ITE College West respectively.

The term "university" is used to describe higher-education institutions offering locally conferred degrees. Institutions offering diplomas are called "polytechnics", while other institutions are often referred to as "institutes" and so forth.

Sri Lanka

Royal College Colombo

In Sri Lanka the word "college" (known as Vidyalaya in Sinhala) normally refers to a secondary school, which usually signifies above the 5th standard. During the British colonial period a limited number of exclusive secondary schools were established based on English public school model (Royal College Colombo, S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia, Trinity College, Kandy) these along with several Catholic schools (St. Joseph's College, Colombo, St Anthony's College, Kandy) traditionally carry their name as colleges. Following the start of free education in 1931 large group of central colleges were established to educate the rural masses. Since Sri Lanka gained Independence in 1948, many schools that have been established have been named as "college".

There are several professional and vocational institutions that offer post-secondary education without granting degrees that are referred to as "colleges". This includes the Sri Lanka Law College, the many Technical Colleges and Teaching Colleges.

South Africa

St John's College, Johannesburg

Similar to New Zealand, in South Africa, the word "college" normally refers to a secondary school. Nevertheless, most secondary schools are called "Someplace High (School)". The word "college" in South Africa generally implies that the school is private. In many cases the high school is exclusive and follows the English public school model. Thus no less than six of South Africa's Elite Seven high schools call themselves "college" and fit this description. A typical example of this category would be St John's College.

Another category of private high schools also use the "college" term. However, these schools do not follow the English public school model, but rather are more informal in character and specialize in improving children's marks through intensive focus on examination needs. These "colleges" are thus often nicknamed "cram-colleges"

Although the term "college" is hardly used in any context at any university in South Africa, some non-university tertiary institutions call themselves colleges. These include teacher training colleges, business colleges and wildlife management colleges to name a few.

The non-English-speaking world

Some languages beyond English use words similar to "college". (French, for example, has the Collège de France.)

Belgium

In Belgium, the term college is used for some Catholic secondary schools but not for public secondary schools.

East Asia

In the People's Republic of China, Japan, South Korea and other East Asian states, colleges and universities are collectively named 大學 or in simplified writing 大学. The meaning of 大學 is clear, but in the case of smaller institutions, the term 學院 ("xueyuan" in Chinese) is often used and, like "college" in English, can refer to either an institution of tertiary or secondary education.

Denmark

In Denmark kollegium means dormitory.

However, a few institutions exist that resemble the English colleges. These are Valkendorfs 1589, the Regensen from 1623, Borchs from 1691, and Elers also from 1691.

France

Courtyard of the Collège de France.

In France, collège is a middle school or junior high school that lasts 4 years (from around 11 to 15 years old). The term collège can, as in English, be used in a generic manner, such as in the term electoral college or the Collège de France. This use, though, is not as common.

The term Collège universitaire (literally university college) used notably by Sciences Po Paris refers to undergraduate studies. It is also used by the University of Manitoba to designate its Francophone university college, Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface.

Germany and Austria

There is a very limited number of higher education institutions in Germany which use the English term college in their names. These are the European College of Liberal Arts in Berlin, the only German liberal arts college; the Baltic College, a very small private Hochschule in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern which, while no Berufsakademie institution, is specializing in cooperative education; and Touro College Berlin, a Jewish-sponsored American college in the German capital which is a satellite campus of Touro College in New York and additionally obtained state approved recognition in Germany, the German equivalent of US regional accreditation, in December 2006. Undergraduates of Touro College Berlin may graduate with two degrees, an American Bachelor of Science degree, awarded by its parent-institution in New York, and a German Bachelor of Science degree, awarded by Touro College Berlin itself.

In North Rhine-Westphalia vocational secondary education in the Berufsschule is called called Berufskolleg.

One German Gymnasium, the Französisches Gymnasium Berlin, is also well known under its French name Collège Français de Berlin. The term Kolleg (literally: college) is used in some states for institutions of adult education where graduates of a Berufsschule can graduate with an Abitur.

A Graduiertenkolleg is a German Graduate school and a Studienkolleg is a special university-preparatory school for foreign students whose foreign high school diploma is not recognised to be equivalent to a German Abitur. In the Austrian capital Vienna, there is also a school called Polycollege which is the oldest folk high school within that country.

Greece

In Greece the term college is mainly used to refer to private secondary education institutions (high schools and junior high schools).

Hungary

In Hungary the term kollégium refers to a dormitory that may or may not be independent from an educational institution. It can also refer to a university's autonomous student organisation, dedicated to the advanced study of a certain science, topic etc., for example the "College for Social Theory".

A szakkollégium is an upper-level dormitory the student body of which also acts as an autonomous organization.

Indonesia

In Indonesia the term kolese refers to a school that be organized by Jesuits. For example, Kolese Kanisius, Jakarta.

Israel

In Israel tertiary institutions accredited to confer a Bachelor's (and in some cases also a Master's) degree, which are not universities, are called Colleges (Hebrew: מכללות‎, Mikhlalot). The primary distinction is that only universities may award doctorate degrees - colleges are teaching-oriented while universities are research-oriented. There are over fifty colleges as well as over twenty teacher training colleges, most of which can award only a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) degree; see the full list of colleges, as well as of universities in Israel.

Italy

In Italy the term collegio, in school context, refers to a particular school (with elite, alternative or stricter education; a collegio offered by the State to the children of some of its civil employees, or a collegio related to a military education, is more commonly called convitto), many of these also accommodate their students in lodging.

Malaysia

In Malaysia, the majority of the private higher educational institutions use the term college or institute. They are allowed to use the name College provided they are registered with Ministry of Higher Education. Under Private Higher Educational Institutions Act 1996. Ministry Official website

File:Main Campus.JPG

Tunku Abdul Rahman College is Malaysia's largest college

Netherlands

In the Netherlands the term college is sometimes used in the names of institutes of secondary education. It is also used for classes or lectures at university. It can be used to refer to the mayor and aldermen of a municipality, who form the municipal government.

Norway

In Norway the term university college is used as an official English translation for høgskole (alternatively spelt høyskole and høgskule), a term used for independent educational institutions providing tertiary, but not quaternary education. Similarly to the situation in Germany, Sweden and Denmark, the Norwegian term høgskole literally means "high school". Before you can study at a høgskole or a university, you must have graduated from the videregående skole, (similar to high school). That means that the common høgskole/university student is 19 years old and above.

Portugal

In Portugal a colégio is usually a private primary education institution.

Romania

In Romania, college is the next step in study after high school (liceu). It can be a college that usually lasts two years or University that can last 2, 3, or 4 years depending on the field. Many top high schools have been renamed National College (Colegiul National).

Spain and Latin America

In Spain and the Spanish speaking countries of Latin America the term colegio (school) refers to either institutions for primary and secondary education or some homogeneous grouping of people who refer to themselves as a colegio inasmuch as they are colleagues.

Spain

In Spain, a "colegio" usually refers to a primary school.

Traditional Spanish universities such as Salamanca or Valladolid were until the 19th century composed of colleges in a similar manner to Oxford and Cambridge. These colleges disappeared after the French Invasion (1808), but the word "college" was kept to refer to "residence halls". Thus, a "colegio mayor" (greater college) within a university refers to a residence hall.

Professional bodies in Spain are called "colegios profesionales" (professional college). Chartered engineers must belong to one of the "Colegio de Ingenieros" (College of Engineers) in the appropriate branch of engineering if they are to be legally entitled to sign engineering projects and legally certify projects. Physicians must belong to the "Colegio de Médicos" (College of Physicians) in order to be able to practice their profession, and architects must belong to the "Colegio de Arquitectos" (College of Architects.) In the case of lawyers, the Bar is called in this case "Colegio de Abogados" (College of Lawyers); thus, "being called to the Bar" in Spanish is "colegiarse". This type of professions are called collegiated professions", as their practitioners must belong a professional college.

Even where membership of a professional institute is not a legally regulated condition of practice, some university-trained professions also form professional colleges in order to defend their collective interests. This includes the College of Biology, the College of Chemical Engineering, the College of Journalist, the College of Physics, the College of Economists, the College of Sociology, the College of Historians, the College of Mathematicians, the College of Chemistry, etc. Law prevents non-university-based professions from forming "colleges"; i.e., plumbers are not allowed to form a "College of Plumbers".

South America

In Peru the professional organizations that group the lawyers of Lima or the biologists of Peru are called "Colegio de Abogados de Lima" (or College of Lawyers of Lima) and Colegio de Biólogos del Perú; in Colombia, an example of professional body is the "Colegio Colombiano de Archivistas - CCA", called in English Colombian College of Archivists - CCA. An exception is Puerto Rico. On the island the word "colegio" usually refers to elementary to secondary private schools, while the word "escuela" is used to refer to elementary to secondary public schools. A unit of the University of Puerto Rico system is called El Colegio ( the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez ) for traditional reasons. The University of Puerto Rico was founded during the American sovereignty. Therefore, the graduates of this unit even at the Ph.D. level are Colegiales.

Sweden

In Sweden the term "university college" is used as an official English translation for högskola, a term used for independent educational institutions providing tertiary, but not quaternary education. The Swedish term högskola (that would be literally translated as "high school") is actually used for a number of institutions which function as specialized universities rather than university colleges, providing quaternary education and conducting research.

Switzerland

In some cantons of the French speaking part of Switzerland and also on the border to the Swiss German speaking part (i.e. in Fribourg) the French term "Collège" (German: Kollegium) is used for middle school or junior high school and sometimes for the Gymnasium (10th to 13th grade) which lends to the matura. It is also used as a name for the physical building in which obligatory education takes place (e.g., Le Collège de La Planta).

Turkey

In Turkey, the term college (kolej in Turkish) refers to private high schools. The name originates from Robert College, the first American educational institution founded outside the United States. Though founded as a college, the school also had middle and secondary sections over the years after its foundation in 1863. Since 1971, Robert College has operated as a private high school; however, the term kolej (college) is widely used by the private high schools that flourished over the last few decades, as an imitation of foreign schools.

Vietnam

In Vietnam a "cao đẳng", or college, is a higher education institute offering courses that last for 3 years, 1 year shorter than the university "đại học" in Vietnamese. After graduation from a college, students are awarded a degree. This degree is evaluated below a degree from a university. If necessary, the student with a college degree can transfer to a university and study for a further year or more to graduate from that university. Vietnamese students would rather attend a university than a college. The university enjoys more prestige and popularity than colleges.

"College" may also refer to a school in a university. Vietnam National University, Hanoi has 5 colleges in its divisions.

See also

• Higher education
• University