The Differences and Similarities of College and University

When students start to explore higher education options, they might wonder what the differences are between a college and a university. The primary distinction between a college and university is that a college provides undergraduate education, while universities offer graduate education.

Community and junior colleges offer two year degrees, while other types of colleges may offer associate and bachelor degrees. Some colleges also offer training, certification, and apprenticeships in specific trades, like plumbing and mechanic technology. A university is an institution that offers undergraduate and graduate programs, the degrees of which can be masters or doctorates. Beyond the PhD, which is a doctor of philosophy, the doctorate can be granted by a variety of other graduate and pre-professional institutions. For example, a JD is a juris doctorate (granted by a law school), an MD is a medical doctorate (granted by a medical school) and an EdD is a doctor of education (granted by an education school).

Joanna Hootnick, an expert in higher learning institutions, has attended and worked in the world of colleges and universities for more than 20 years. She understands the nuances of such institutions. For example, Universities often have colleges under the umbrella of the schools through which they grant degrees. So for example, Harvard College is the institution which grants undergraduate degrees at Harvard University.

While the meanings of college and university, in dictionary terms, are quite clear, these two words are often used interchangeably in our daily colloquialisms. This is due to the words “college” and “university”, and sometimes “school”, being conflated in magazine articles and even titles of institutions. Adding further confusion are institutions like NYU Stern School of Business, where Joanna Hootnick earned an MBA, which offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees. At the graduate level, schools like stern offer both MBAs (master’s level education) and PhDs (doctoral level education).

In order to grant degrees, a college or university must be accredited. Traditional institutions of higher education are non-profit, charitable entities. However, there has been a proliferation of for-profit colleges and universities over time including, DeVry, University of Phoenix, and the now defunct Trump University.

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