<p>Since I learned the meaning of these words, I have been asking myself what is the real difference between a College and a University. Can somebody explain please?</p>
<p>thats a good question ,
when you find out please let me know !</p>
<p>In general, a university is more research-centric and a college is more teaching-centric. But the terms are often used interchangeably, and to confuse the issue even more, some universities refer to their subsections or their undergrad program as colleges (e.g. "Harvard College", "College of Arts and Sciences").</p>
<p>How confusing!!</p>
<p>"College" and "University" are often used loosely, almost interchangeably, and can mean somewhat different things in different contexts. However, IF you are a person graduating from secondary school and looking to go on to higher education, the simplest and most useful way to look at the distinction is as follows: institutions which identify themselves as "colleges" are pretty much limited to providing undergraduate education, and awarding bachelor's degrees. Universities, on the other hand, provide both undergraduate AND advanced degree programs, and so in addition to awarding bachelor's degrees they may offer some mix of master's, doctoral, and professional degrees. These institutions may also have more emphasis on faculty/staff research. That's about it.<br>
But terminology can be confusing. In many cases, within a university (as defined above) the term "college" is used to identify the administrative divisions within the overall university. For example Podunk University may be composed of a "College of Liberal Arts", a "College of Engineering", a "College of Business", and even a "College of Medicine" or "College of Law". These administrative entities could just as often be called the "School of Liberal Arts" or the "School of Engineering", etc., but they exist precisly because the university has so many separate program offerings that need to be be run somewhat separately.
For a prospective student planning on getting a bachelor's degree in liberal arts let's say, there is really no distinction in terms of degree recognition between going to a college or a university per se. A "college" may provide the advantage of focusing on you as an undergraduate, and emphasizing teaching you as opposed to doing research. A university, on the other hand, by its very nature may offer more programs of study to choose from and give you the chance of exposure to big-time leading-edge research projects. So, although the degree you get is essentially the same, the experience at each type of institution can be very different.</p>