Editing College (section)

===Ireland===
{{See also|Third-level education in the Republic of Ireland}}
[[File:Trinity college front square cropped.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|right|Parliament Square, [[Trinity College Dublin]] in [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]] ]]
In [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]] the term "college" is normally used to describe an institution of tertiary education. University students often say they attend "college" rather than "university". Until 1989, no university provided teaching or research directly; they were formally offered by a constituent college of the university.

There are number of secondary education institutions that traditionally used the word "college" in their names: these are either older, private schools (such as [[Belvedere College]], [[Gonzaga College]], [[Castleknock College]], and [[St Michael's College, Dublin|St. Michael's College]]) or what were formerly a particular kind of secondary school. These secondary schools, formerly known as "technical colleges," were renamed "community colleges," but remain secondary schools.

The country's only [[ancient university]] is the [[University of Dublin]]. Created during the reign of [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth I]], it is modelled on the collegiate universities of Cambridge and Oxford. However, only one constituent college was ever founded, hence the curious position of [[Trinity College Dublin]] today; although both are usually considered one and the same, the university and college are completely distinct corporate entities with separate and parallel governing structures.

Among more modern foundations, the [[National University of Ireland]], founded in 1908, consisted of constituent colleges and recognised colleges until 1997. The former are now referred to as constituent universities – institutions that are essentially universities in their own right. The National University can trace its existence back to 1850 and the creation of the [[Queen's University of Ireland]] and the creation of the [[Catholic University of Ireland]] in 1854. From 1880, the degree awarding roles of these two universities was taken over by the [[Royal University of Ireland]], which remained until the creation of the National University in 1908 and [[Queen's University Belfast]].

The state's two new universities, [[Dublin City University]] and [[University of Limerick]], were initially [[National Institute for Higher Education]] institutions. These institutions offered university level academic degrees and research from the start of their existence and were awarded university status in 1989 in recognition of this.

Third level technical education in the state has been carried out in the [[Institutes of technology in Ireland|Institutes of Technology]], which were established from the 1970s as Regional Technical Colleges. These institutions have ''delegated authority'' which entitles them to give degrees and diplomas from [[Quality and Qualifications Ireland]] (QQI) in their own names.

A number of private colleges exist such as [[Dublin Business School]], providing undergraduate and postgraduate courses validated by QQI and in some cases by other universities.

Other types of college include colleges of education, such as the [[Church of Ireland College of Education]]. These are specialist institutions, often linked to a university, which provide both undergraduate and postgraduate academic degrees for people who want to train as teachers.

A number of state-funded further education colleges exist – which offer vocational education and training in a range of areas from business studies and [[information and communications technology]] to sports injury therapy. These courses are usually one, two or less often three years in duration and are validated by QQI at Levels 5 or 6, or for the BTEC [[Higher National Diploma]] award, which is a Level 6/7 qualification, validated by [[Edexcel]]. There are numerous private colleges (particularly in Dublin and Limerick)<ref>{{Cite web|title=Private Colleges Dublin|url=https://www.educationinireland.com/en/Where-can-I-study-/View-all-Private-Higher-Education-Institutions/|url-status=live|website=Education in Ireland|access-date=20 July 2021|archive-date=20 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210720203106/https://www.educationinireland.com/en/Where-can-I-study-/View-all-Private-Higher-Education-Institutions/}}</ref> which offer both further and higher education qualifications. These degrees and diplomas are often certified by foreign universities/international awarding bodies and are aligned to the National Framework of Qualifications at Levels 6, 7 and 8.