<p>i always thought a college was just a smaller form of a university..
but i got a letter from emory university that said i could study at their oxford college.
so whats the difference between the two??</p>
<p>To my understanding a university is more research based, grants more PhD's, and usually has a lot more branches of study such as medicine, law, etc...</p>
<p>Oxford college is used as a steeping stone into Emory. I think you do two years at Oxford, complete certain requirements, and then transfer into Emory.</p>
<p>To try to clarify a little more,</p>
<p>A school with the title of "college" (e.g., Vassar College) is a small undergraduate school.</p>
<p>A school with the title of "university" (e.g., Emory University) is composed of multiple colleges for undergraduates and graduates - separate divisions with different focuses, for example, College of Arts and Sciences, or College of Business/Administration, or an honors college.</p>
<p>Emory has invited you to study in a college within their university - a specific division with a specific educational mission. Oxford College, at Emory, is a program focusing on liberal arts; you spend two years at Oxford and then finish your degree at Emory's main campus. Emory preserves a lot of the qualities that you'd find at a small, undergraduate-focused college rather than a university: it has a separate campus 40ish miles from Atlanta, it has only 600 students, lower student-teacher ratios and a closer community.</p>
<p>Make sense?</p>
<p>You can also say that a college typically only grants bachelor's degrees. A university grants multiple degrees (bachelor's, graduate degrees, professional degrees, etc.)</p>
<p>That's right - in fact, many universities that grew out of an original undergraduate college still refer to their undergrad schools as "College" - Harvard College, Yale College, Columbia College, etc.</p>
<p>A university is basically a coalition of several smaller colleges.</p>
<p>
[quote]
A school with the title of "university" (e.g., Emory University) is composed of multiple colleges for undergraduates and graduates - separate divisions with different focuses, for example, College of Arts and Sciences, or College of Business/Administration, or an honors college.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>precisely...</p>
<p>On HBS case studies it says "copyright the President and Fellows of Harvard College." I think from some legal point of view, Harvard is still called Harvard College</p>
<p>
[quote]
A school with the title of "college" (e.g., Vassar College) is a small undergraduate school.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Dartmouth College offers a variety of graduate programs. </p>
<p>
[quote]
A school with the title of "university" (e.g., Emory University) is composed of multiple colleges for undergraduates and graduates - separate divisions with different focuses, for example, College of Arts and Sciences, or College of Business/Administration, or an honors college.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Denison University has only a single 'college' (if you want to call it that) that serves as its undergraduate administrative bod. It also has no graduate students. {Granted, it used to have graduate students in the old days, but not for the last 80 years). </p>
<p>Similarly, Depauw University has no graduate students and only a single body that administers all of the undergrads.</p>
<p>My understanding is that in order to use the title of "university" the school has to have at least two graduate degree granting programs of study. Both upper level programs can be masters programs---they do not need to be PhD degree programs.</p>
<p>
[quote]
My understanding is that in order to use the title of "university" the school has to have at least two graduate degree granting programs of study.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Like I said, both Denison and Depauw University *have *no graduate degree granting programs of any kind.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Like I said, both Denison and Depauw University have no graduate degree granting programs of any kind.
[/quote]
The same appears to be true of Lawrence University, which is a liberal arts college, despite the name. I don't think Lawrence (founded 1847) has ever offered degree programs above the undergraduate level. </p>
<p>On the other hand, schools like Bryn Mawr College, Smith College, and Williams College are among the nation's best-known LACs, yet they offer some graduate degree programs.</p>
<p>"The President and Fellows of Harvard College" is the oldest corporation in the Western hemisphere, so it's never changed its name from the original. But Harvard College refers primarily to the undergraduate school while Harvard University is a collection of over a dozen colleges, schools, and institutes.</p>
<p>In some cases, colleges have adopted the University moniker out of a belief that it imparts more prestige. It may not really reflect their mission, or more accurately may not reflect any real difference between their mission and that of a peer institution which has kept the word "college" as part of its name.</p>
<p>This isn't a universal, of course, but it does happen.</p>
<p>the spelling</p>
<p>There is no legal distinction whatsoever between the title "college" and the title "university" in the United States. The The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching classifications </p>
<p>Classification</a> Descriptions </p>
<p>are the basis for many lists that distinguish "universities" from "liberal arts colleges," but some institutions that belong to each group use the title that is most common in the other group. Read the FAQs on the linked page on the Carnegie Foundation site for perhaps more than you want to know about this issue.</p>