Editing College (section)

==Americas==
===Canada===
{{Main|College (Canada)}}
In Canadian English, the term "college" usually refers to a trades school, applied arts/science/technology/business/health school or [[Community college#Canada|community college]]. These are [[tertiary education|post-secondary]] institutions granting [[Academic certificate|certificates]], diplomas, [[associate degree]]s and (in some cases) [[bachelor's degree]]s. The French acronym specific to public institutions within [[Quebec]]'s particular system of pre-university and technical education is [[CEGEP]] (''Collège d'enseignement général et professionnel'', "college of general and professional education"). They are [[college education in Quebec|collegiate-level]] institutions that a student typically enrols in if they wish to continue onto university in the [[Education in Quebec|Quebec education system]],{{notetag|Exceptions are made for "mature" student, meaning 21 years of age or over, and out of the educational system for at least 2 years.}} or to learn a trade. In [[Ontario]] and [[Alberta]], there are also institutions that are designated [[university college]]s, which only grant undergraduate degrees. This is to differentiate between universities, which have both undergraduate and graduate programs and those that do not.

In Canada, there is a strong distinction between "college" and "university". In conversation, one specifically would say either "they are going to university" (i.e., studying for a three- or four-year degree at a university) or "they are going to college" (i.e., studying at a technical/career training).<ref>{{Cite web|title=College and University in Canada: What Is the Difference?|url=https://www.wes.org/advisor-blog/college-and-university-in-canada-what-is-the-difference/|access-date=2021-10-08|website=World Education Services|date=29 March 2018 |language=en-US|archive-date=8 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211008175617/https://www.wes.org/advisor-blog/college-and-university-in-canada-what-is-the-difference/|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Usage in a university setting====
The term ''college'' also applies to distinct entities that formally act as an affiliated institution of the university, formally referred to as [[federated school|federated college]], or affiliated colleges. A university may also formally include several constituent colleges, forming a [[collegiate university]]. Examples of collegiate universities in Canada include [[Trent University]], and the [[University of Toronto]]. These types of institutions act independently, maintaining their own endowments, and properties. However, they remain either affiliated, or federated with the overarching university, with the overarching university being the institution that formally grants the degrees. For example, [[University of Trinity College|Trinity College]] was once an independent institution, but later became federated with the [[University of Toronto]]. Several centralized universities in Canada have mimicked the collegiate university model; although constituent colleges in a centralized university remains under the authority of the central administration. Centralized universities that have adopted the collegiate model to a degree includes the University of British Columbia, with [[Green College, University of British Columbia|Green College]] and [[St. John's College, University of British Columbia|St. John's College]]; and the [[Memorial University of Newfoundland]], with [[Sir Wilfred Grenfell College]].

Occasionally, "college" refers to a subject specific faculty within a university that, while distinct, are neither ''federated'' nor ''affiliated''—College of Education, College of Medicine, College of Dentistry, College of Biological Science<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.uoguelph.ca/cbs/ |title=College of Biological Science |publisher=University of Guelph |access-date=19 June 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100626040312/http://www.uoguelph.ca/cbs/ |archive-date=26 June 2010}}</ref> among others.

The [[Royal Military College of Canada]] is a [[military college]] which trains officers for the [[Canadian Armed Forces]]. The institution is a full-fledged university, with the authority to issue graduate degrees, although it continues to word the term ''college'' in its name. The institution's sister schools, [[Royal Military College Saint-Jean]] also uses the term college in its name, although it academic offering is akin to a CEGEP institution in Quebec. A number of post-secondary [[art schools]] in Canada formerly used the word ''college'' in their names, despite formally being universities. However, most of these institutions were renamed, or re-branded in the early 21st century, omitting the word ''college'' from its name.

====Usage in secondary education====
The word ''college'' continues to be used in the names public [[separate school|separate]] secondary schools in Ontario.<ref>[http://sbinfo.edu.gov.on.ca/schadv.asp Find a School or School Board] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090908182055/http://sbinfo.edu.gov.on.ca/schadv.asp |date=2009-09-08 }} search form on the Ministry of Education of Ontario web site—click "Secondary" and "Separate"</ref> A number of [[independent school]]s across Canada also use the word ''college'' in its name.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vancouver.cdncompanies.com/other/canada-capstone-college-vancouver/|title=Canada Capstone College – Opening hours – 360 Robson Street, Vancouver, British Columbia – Customer Reviews {{!}} Canada Online|website=vancouver.cdncompanies.com|access-date=2018-04-11|archive-date=11 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180411111604/https://vancouver.cdncompanies.com/other/canada-capstone-college-vancouver/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Public [[secular education|secular]] school boards in Ontario also refer to their secondary schools as ''[[collegiate institute]]s''. However, usage of the word ''collegiate institute'' varies between school boards. ''Collegiate institute'' is the predominant name for secondary schools in [[Lakehead District School Board]], and [[Toronto District School Board]], although most school boards in Ontario use ''collegiate institute'' alongside ''high school'', and ''secondary school'' in the names of their institutions. Similarly, secondary schools in Regina, and Saskatoon are referred to as ''Collegiate''.

===Chile===
{{Main|Education in Chile}}

Officially, since 2009, the [[Pontifical Catholic University of Chile]] incorporated the term "college" as the name of a [[tertiary education]] program as a bachelor's degree. The program features a ''Bachelor of Natural Sciences and Mathematics'', a ''Bachelor of Social Science'' and a ''Bachelor of Arts and Humanities''. It has the same system as the [[Lists of American universities and colleges|American universities]], it combines majors and minors and finally, it let the students continue a higher degree in the same university once the program it is completed.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Why Study at College |url=https://college.uc.cl/index.php/en/about-college/why-study-at-college |access-date= |website=college.uc.cl|publisher = Pontifical Catholic University of Chile}}</ref>

But in Chile, the term "college" is not usually used for [[tertiary education]], but is used mainly in the name of some private [[Bilingual school|bilingual schools]], corresponding to levels 0, 1 and 2 of the [[International Standard Classification of Education|ISCED 2011]]. Some examples are they [[Santiago College]], [[Saint George's College, Santiago|Saint George's College]], among others.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Education System Chile. Described and compared with the Dutch system |url=https://www.nuffic.nl/sites/default/files/2020-08/education-system-chile.pdf |url-status= |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date= |website=Nuffic: The Dutch organisation for internationalisation in education }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=List of every International School in Santiago |url=https://www.international-schools-database.com/in/santiago-chile/ |access-date=2023-07-07 |website=www.international-schools-database.com |language=en}}</ref>

===United States===
{{Main|Higher education in the United States}}
{{See also|Community college#United States}}
[[File:North Academic Center jeh.jpg|thumb|right|[[City College of New York]] ]]

In the United States, there were 5,916 post-secondary institutions (universities and colleges) {{as of|2020|alt=as of 2020–21|post=,}} having peaked at 7,253 in 2012–13 and fallen every year since.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://nces.ed.gov/FastFacts/display.asp?id=1122 |title=Fast Facts – Educational Institutions |author=NCES |access-date=27 January 2023}}</ref> A "college" in the US can refer to a constituent part of a university (which can be a [[residential college]], the sub-division of the university offering undergraduate courses, or a school of the university offering particular specialized courses), an independent institution offering bachelor's-level courses, or an institution offering instruction in a particular professional, technical or vocational field.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/college|title=College|work=Merriam-Webster dictionary|publisher=[[Merriam-Webster]]|access-date=27 January 2023}}</ref> In popular usage, the word "college" is the generic term for any post-secondary undergraduate education. Americans "go to college" after [[High school (North America)|high school]], regardless of whether the specific institution is formally a college or a university. Some students choose to dual-enroll, by taking college classes while still in high school. The word and its derivatives are the standard terms used to describe the institutions and experiences associated with American post-secondary undergraduate education.

Students must pay for college before taking classes. Some borrow the money via loans, and some students fund their educations with cash, scholarships, grants, or some combination of these payment methods. In 2011, the state or federal government subsidized $8,000 to $100,000 for each undergraduate degree. For state-owned schools (called "public" universities), the subsidy was given to the college, with the student benefiting from lower tuition.<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://www.air.org/focus-area/education/index.cfm?fa=viewContent&content_id=1288&id=6|title=Taxpayer Subsidies for Most Colleges and Universities Average Between $8,000 to More than $100,000 for Each Bachelor's Degree, New Study Finds|publisher=American Institutes for Research|date=12 May 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131230231938/http://www.air.org/focus-area/education/index.cfm?fa=viewContent&content_id=1288&id=6|archive-date=30 December 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nber.org/digest/dec03/w9720.html|title=State Education Subsidies Shift Students to Public Universities|website=www.nber.org|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170924104945/http://www.nber.org/digest/dec03/w9720.html|archive-date=24 September 2017}}</ref> The state subsidized on average 50% of public university tuition.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://chronicle.com/article/article-content/131372|title=Why Does Tuition Go Up? Because Taxpayer Support Goes Down|first=Gary|last=Fethke|date=1 April 2012|via=The Chronicle of Higher Education|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130420180123/http://chronicle.com/article/article-content/131372|archive-date=20 April 2013}}</ref>

[[File:Alumni Hall 1889 Sun.jpg|thumb|left|[[Saint Anselm College]] ]]
Colleges vary in terms of size, degree, and length of stay. Two-year colleges, also known as [[junior college|junior]] or [[community college]]s, usually offer an [[associate degree]], and four-year colleges usually offer a [[bachelor's degree]]. Often, these are entirely [[undergraduate education|undergraduate]] institutions, although some have [[graduate school]] programs.

Four-year institutions in the U.S. that emphasize a [[liberal arts]] curriculum are known as [[Liberal arts colleges in the United States|liberal arts colleges]]. Until the 20th century, liberal arts, law, medicine, theology, and divinity were about the only form of higher education available in the United States.<ref>{{cite book|last=Masci|first=David|title=Should colleges get back to basics?|publisher=Congressional Quarterly|series=CQ Researcher|year=1998}}</ref> These schools have traditionally emphasized instruction at the undergraduate level, although advanced research may still occur at these institutions.

[[File:Bowdoin-chapel-winter.jpg|thumb|[[Bowdoin College]] ]]
While there is no national standard in the United States, the term "university" primarily designates institutions that provide undergraduate and [[graduate education]]. A university typically has as its core and its largest internal division an undergraduate college teaching a [[liberal arts]] curriculum, also culminating in a [[bachelor's degree]]. What often distinguishes a university is having, in addition, one or more graduate schools engaged in both teaching graduate classes and in research. Often these would be called a School of Law or School of Medicine, (but may also be called a college of law, or a faculty of law). An exception is [[Vincennes University]], [[Indiana]], which is styled and chartered as a "university" even though almost all of its academic programs lead only to two-year associate degrees. Some institutions, such as [[Dartmouth College]] and [[The College of William & Mary]], have retained the term "college" in their names for historical reasons. In one unique case, [[Boston College]] and [[Boston University]], the former located in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts and the latter located in Boston, Massachusetts, are completely separate institutions.

Usage of the terms varies among the states. In 1996, for example, [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] changed all of its four-year institutions previously designated as colleges to universities, and all of its [[vocation]]al technology schools to [[Institute of technology|technical colleges]].

[[File:Crookshank Hall.jpg|thumb|left|[[Pomona College]] ]]
The terms "university" and "college" do not exhaust all possible titles for an American institution of higher education. Other options include "institute" ([[Worcester Polytechnic Institute]] and [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]), "academy" ([[United States Military Academy]]), "union" ([[Cooper Union]]), "conservatory" ([[New England Conservatory]]), and "school" ([[Juilliard School]]). In colloquial use, the institutions are still referred to as "college" when referring to undergraduate studies.

The term ''college'' is also, as in the United Kingdom, used for a constituent semi-autonomous part of a larger university but generally organized on academic rather than residential lines. For example, at many institutions, the undergraduate portion of the university can be briefly referred to as '''the college''' (such as The [[College of the University of Chicago]], [[Harvard College]] at [[Harvard University|Harvard]], or [[Columbia College of Columbia University|Columbia College]] at [[Columbia University|Columbia]]) while at others, such as the [[University of California, Berkeley]], "colleges" are collections of academic programs and other units that share some common characteristics, mission, or disciplinary focus (the "college of engineering", the "college of nursing", and so forth). There exist other variants for historical reasons, including some uses that exist because of mergers and acquisitions; for example, [[Duke University]], which was called Trinity College until the 1920s, still calls its main undergraduate subdivision [[Trinity College of Arts and Sciences]].

====Residential colleges====
[[File:Scripps College for Women-9.jpg|right|thumb|[[Scripps College]] ]]
Some American universities, such as [[Princeton University|Princeton]], [[Rice University|Rice]], and [[Yale University|Yale]] have established [[residential college]]s (sometimes, as at [[Harvard University|Harvard]], the first to establish such a system in the 1930s, known as houses) along the lines of Oxford or Cambridge.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://collegiateway.org/reading/morison-1936/|title=Samuel Eliot Morison on the Harvard Houses|work=The Collegiate Way|author=Robert J. O'Hara|access-date=17 January 2017|archive-date=26 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161026160736/http://collegiateway.org/reading/morison-1936/|url-status=live}}</ref> Unlike the Oxbridge colleges, but similarly to [[Durham University|Durham]], these residential colleges are not autonomous legal entities nor are they typically much involved in education itself, being primarily concerned with room, board, and social life.<ref>{{cite web|title=Collegiate Developments at Durham and Princeton|url=http://collegiateway.org/news/2002-durham-princeton|quote=The University of Durham is the third oldest collegiate university in Great Britain, and most of Durham's residential colleges are creatures of the central university rather than legally independent corporations. In this respect, the Durham colleges are closer in structure to the residential colleges that have been established in the United States and elsewhere in recent years than are the independent corporations of Oxford and Cambridge.|date=8 October 2002|work=The Collegiate Way|author=Robert J. O'Hara|access-date=17 January 2017|archive-date=10 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170110041835/http://collegiateway.org/news/2002-durham-princeton|url-status=live}}</ref> At the [[University of Michigan]], [[University of California, San Diego]] and the [[University of California, Santa Cruz]], each residential college teaches its own core writing courses and has its own distinctive set of graduation requirements.

Many American universities have placed increased emphasis on their residential colleges in recent years. This is exemplified by the creation of new colleges at [[Ivy League]] schools such as [[Yale University]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://newresidentialcolleges.yale.edu/|title=The New Residential Colleges|website=Yale University|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160506115030/http://newresidentialcolleges.yale.edu/ |archive-date=6 May 2016}}</ref> and [[Princeton University]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.princeton.edu/main/campuslife/housingdining/colleges/|title=Housing & Dining|website=Princeton University|url-status=live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160511175218/http://www.princeton.edu/main/campuslife/housingdining/colleges/ |archive-date=11 May 2016}}</ref> and efforts to strengthen the contribution of the residential colleges to student education, including through a 2016 taskforce at Princeton on residential colleges.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://strategicplan.princeton.edu/taskforces/rescollege|title=Task Force on the Residential College Model |website = Planning for Princeton's Future|publisher =Princeton University|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604070558/http://www.princeton.edu/strategicplan/taskforces/rescollege/|archive-date=4 June 2016}}</ref>

====Origin of the American usage====
The founders of the first institutions of higher education in the United States were graduates of the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. The small institutions they founded would not have seemed to them like universities – they were tiny and did not offer the higher degrees in medicine and theology. Furthermore, they were not composed of several small colleges. Instead, the new institutions felt like the Oxford and Cambridge colleges they were used to – small communities, housing and feeding their students, with instruction from residential tutors (as in the United Kingdom, described above). When the first students graduated, these "colleges" assumed the right to confer degrees upon them, usually with authority—for example, [[The College of William & Mary]] has a [[royal charter]] from the British monarchy allowing it to confer degrees while [[Dartmouth College]] has a charter permitting it to award degrees "as are usually granted in either of the universities, or any other college in our realm of Great Britain."

[[File:Agnes Scott College - Buttrick Hall.jpg|right|thumb|[[Agnes Scott College]] ]]
The leaders of [[Harvard College]] (which granted America's first degrees in 1642) might have thought of their college as the first of many residential colleges that would grow up into a New Cambridge university. However, over time, few new colleges were founded there, and Harvard grew and added higher faculties. Eventually, it changed its title to university, but the term "college" had stuck and "colleges" have arisen across the United States.

In [[American English]], the word "college" not only embodies a particular type of school, but has historically been used to refer to the general concept of [[undergraduate education]] when it is not necessary to specify a school, as in "going to college" or "college savings accounts" offered by banks.

In a survey of more than 2,000 college students in 33 states and 156 different campuses, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group found the average student spends as much as $1,200 each year on textbooks and supplies alone. By comparison, the group says that's the equivalent of 39 percent of tuition and fees at a community college, and 14 percent of tuition and fees at a four-year public university.<ref>{{cite web|last1= Bidwell|first1=Allie|title=Report: High Textbook Prices Have College Students Struggling|website=U.S. News|date = 28 January 2014|url= https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/01/28/report-high-textbook-prices-have-college-students-struggling|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150227180009/http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/01/28/report-high-textbook-prices-have-college-students-struggling|archive-date=27 February 2015}}</ref>

====Morrill Land-Grant Act====
[[File:SUNY Purchase College.jpg|thumb|[[SUNY Purchase College]] ]]
In addition to private colleges and universities, the U.S. also has a system of government funded, [[public university|public universities]]. Many were founded under the [[Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act]] of 1862. A movement had arisen to bring a form of more practical higher education to the masses, as "...many politicians and educators wanted to make it possible for all young Americans to receive some sort of advanced education."<ref name = "enbkii"/> The Morrill Act "...made it possible for the new western states to establish colleges for the citizens."<ref name="enbkii" /> Its goal was to make higher education more easily accessible to the citizenry of the country, specifically to improve agricultural systems by providing training and scholarship in the production and sales of agricultural products,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dafvm.msstate.edu/laws/history.html|title=A Land-Grant Institution|publisher=Dafvm.msstate.edu|date=11 August 2009|access-date=14 September 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100610150606/http://www.dafvm.msstate.edu/laws/history.html|archive-date=10 June 2010|url-status=live}}</ref> and to provide formal education in "...agriculture, home economics, mechanical arts, and other professions that seemed practical at the time."<ref name="enbkii">{{cite web|last=Lightcap|first=Brad|url= http://www.nd.edu/~rbarger/www7/morrill.html|website=ND.edu|title=The Morrill Act of 1862|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080108111525/http://www.nd.edu/~rbarger/www7/morrill.html|archive-date=8 January 2008}}</ref>

The act was eventually extended to allow all states that had remained with the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] during the [[American Civil War]], and eventually all states, to establish such institutions. Most of the colleges established under the Morrill Act have since become full universities, and some are among the elite of the world.

====Benefits of college====
Selection of a four-year college as compared to a two-year junior college, even by marginal students such as those with a C+ grade average in high school and SAT scores in the mid 800s, increases the probability of graduation and confers substantial economic and social benefits.<ref name=NYT42415>{{cite news|author1=David Leonhardt|author-link1=David Leonhardt|title=College for the Masses|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/26/upshot/college-for-the-masses.html|access-date=26 April 2015|work=The New York Times|date=24 April 2015|format=Upshot blog|quote=Only about a third of young adults today receive a bachelor's degree. The new research confirms that many more teenagers have the ability to do so—and would benefit from it|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150426031622/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/26/upshot/college-for-the-masses.html|archive-date=26 April 2015}}</ref><ref name=NBER20996>{{cite web|author1=Joshua Goodman|author2=Michael Hurwitz|author3=Jonathan Smith|title=College Access, Initial College Choice and Degree Completion|publisher=National Bureau of Economic Research|url=http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/joshuagoodman/files/collegetypequality.pdf|doi=10.3386/w20996|date=February 2015|s2cid=168194289|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150506014135/http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/joshuagoodman/files/collegetypequality.pdf|archive-date=6 May 2015}}</ref><ref name=Zimmerman>{{cite web|author1=Seth Zimmerman|title=The Returns to College Admission for Academically Marginal Students|url=http://pantheon.yale.edu/~sdz3/Zimmerman_JoLE_5_2013.pdf|access-date=26 April 2015|date=May 2013|quote=Students with grades just above a threshold for admissions eligibility at a large public university in Florida are much more likely to attend any university than below-threshold students. The marginal admission yields earnings gains of 22 percent between eight and fourteen years after high school completion. These gains outstrip the costs of college attendance, and are largest for male students and free lunch recipients.|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150331185254/http://pantheon.yale.edu/~sdz3/Zimmerman_JoLE_5_2013.pdf|archive-date=31 March 2015}}</ref>