Jazoni89 said:
Ahhh...so our college is called a community college, and our Uni is just called college (or in some cases) Uni, am I right?
Still very confusing stuff.
I'm not very familiar with the British system of schooling. Based on my understanding, "college" in the UK generally refers to Sixth Form (correct me if I'm wrong), which, when comparing age, would correspond to our last two years of high school (11th and 12th grade to us, year 12 and 13 to you I believe). Both "community college" and "university" come after 12th grade, but they generally denote a different focus for the school. Community colleges generally focus on ease of entry, cheaper costs, a focus on a smaller part of the community, and on getting a two-year degree (i.e. an Associate's Degree) with an emphasis on either getting a job after two years or making it easier to transfer to a four-year university. However, the professors are generally less experienced in their fields with fewer credentials, so the quality might suffer a little, but most community colleges are still respected by all four-year universities within their educational region. Four-year universities tend to be what most people think of when an American mentions "college" (ex. University of Florida, University of California, etc.). Their focus tends to be on spending 4-5 years to get a degree; on offering Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctorate-level degrees; on selecting the most promising students who apply (my university has a less-than 40% acceptance rate); and on offering the highest quality education they can. They are generally more expensive, though. When comparing their grade levels, though, community colleges really just offer the first two years of a four-year university at a cheaper cost.
Another thing to note is that most Americans use "college" and "university" interchangeably when referring to the school (ex. someone may refer to the University of California as a college, or Dartmouth College as a university even if their official names say otherwise). If using rigid definitions, a college is really just one part of a university (ex. a university might consist of the College of Arts and Sciences, College of Business, College of Law, College of Fine Arts, etc.). Sometimes, "college" may just reference a smaller higher-level education institution, while "university" is used to reference the larger ones (though the quality of education is not necessarily determined by the use of "college" and "university"). "College" also tends to be the popular term for the education level the person is at, similar to how we say "high school", even if they are attending what is recognized as a university.
Granted, it is somewhat complicated, and I doubt most Americans themselves really have a firm grasp on any rigid definition of the terms. Over here, you can use "college" and "university" interchangeably and most will know what you are talking about without a second thought, as they would both refer to the same level of education, but "college" is a more common term when not referencing the name of the school. Hope that helps a little.
