Difference between college and university

[Guest sans005]

Hey guys, all over the applications I see college and university. whats the difference between them? aren't they the same? please enlighten me.

[Guest aneliz]

There are several different meanings for the word 'college' depending on where it is used...

 

In the USA - 'college' = university. ie: there is a "University of California" but its students would use the sentence "I go to college in California" when asked where they attend school.

 

In Ontario - there are universities and there are 'community colleges'. Community colleges have lower entrance standards (ie "c" level high school courses vs "u" level high school courses) and tend to be more directly 'career' related - ie you can study things like early childhood education, veterinary technician, pharmacy technician, etc. Universities are more abstract in their programs - ie you can study 'music' or 'chemistry' as your program. In Ontario, university study, not college credits, are the pre-req for medicine.

 

However, to complicate the matter, many universities have 'associate colleges' on their campus (like the 'Ontario agricultural college' in Guelph, King's College at UWO or St Jerome's at Waterloo (there are many others). These are former 'independent' schools that have been combined to form a university or have been incorporated into the university they are currently with. They are degree granting institutions under the university that they are affiliated with, however, they do still have their own residences and administration... so they are not entirely part of the larger university either. They are not equivalent to community colleges though.

 

To further complicate things, some universities refer to their 'faculties' as 'colleges'. Guelph does this. For example - rather than a faculty of science at Guelph, there is a 'college of physical and engineering science' and a 'college of biological science'. This is just a naming issue... these are not 'colleges' in either of the two ways described above.

 

Things get even more complicated when you head to other provinces... In BC you can transfer between colleges and universities and receive transfer credits (not common in Ontario - but possible with some special agreements between specific programs at specific schools)... I am not sure what goes on in other provinces. Quebec has a system of CEGEP which is entirely different... and I am not sure what goes on in the maritimes or Alberta. Maybe somebody else can fill us in.