在外国人眼中，College 和 University的区别到底是什么？

当我们用中文说起“大学”这个词时，其中包含了不同类别、不同水平的诸多高校，这些学校从规模到学科，甚至是颁发的学位种类都有很大差别，叫法上也包含“学校”“学院”等不同的说法。

同样的区别也存在于美国的高校中。在英语语境下，大学往往被统称为“college”，“上大学”也是“go to college”，然而大多数情况下，我们看到的许多大学又是用“university”作为关键词。

看到这里，你一定忍不住会问：“那么”College和University到底有何区别？”

What's the difference between a college and a university?

University是否比college高大上呢？答案是：不一定。 二者之间不仅仅是学院和大学的区别那么简单哦。

上大学对任何一个年轻人来说都是人生大事。上大学这个短语让人想起新获得的独立、接触到的新视角、新知识，也许还能让人想起初尝酒的滋味。

Going off to college is a milestone in any young adult’s life. The phrase itself conjures up images of newfound independence, exposure to new perspectives, knowledge, and possibly even one or more sips of alcohol.

University是否比college高大上呢？

然而，在美国，很少有人用university来泛指“大学”，即使他们上的是哈佛大学。为什么college成为指代中学后教育时普遍使用的术语？

In America, however, few people use the phrase “going off to university,” or “headed to university,” even if they are indeed about to set off for, say, Harvard University.

美国大学为什么会有“College”和“University”两种叫法？ 首先我们要明白美国“college ”的含义。

Why did college become the predominant term for postsecondary education? And is there any difference between the two institutions?

College外国人眼中的二者区别：

在美国如果有人问你本科在哪里读，他们往往都会这样问：“Where do you go to college” （√）

而不是“Where do you go to university” (X)

可见，Collge虽然被我们翻译成”学院’，但是College真正的含义是指本科阶段的教育。如哈佛、耶鲁这些综合性大学的本科都称为“college”：

尽管university这个词汇在这两者中历史更悠久，早在13世纪就产生了，但北美的学校和学生却主要用college来指代大多数高校。这两个词没有严格的定义，但却有各自的属性。

北美的college一般指提供本科学位（比如准学士学位或学士学位）的四年制大学。（社区学院通常是两年制高校）。College一般不提供硕士或博士学位，学生规模通常也没有university大。

Universities, on the other hand, tend to offer both undergraduate and graduate programs leading to advanced degrees for a larger group of students. They can also be comprised of several schools—referred to as colleges—under their umbrella.

A university could offer both a school of arts and sciences and a school of business. In general, a college do not offer master's or doctoral degrees, and students scale are not as large as a university.

University大学的划分和性质:

University则一般都会提供本科和研究生课程，有更大的学生群体能获得高级学位。University还可以包含college， 即学院。一所university旗下可能有艺术学院、科学学院和商学院。比如密歇根大学（university）旗下就有工程学院（college）。

While many of these traits are common, they’re not guaranteed. Some colleges can be bigger than universities, some might offer master’s degrees, and so on. To complicate matters further, an institution that fits the criteria of a university might choose to call itself a college.

Both Dartmouth College and Boston College qualify as universities but use the college label owing to tradition. Schools may begin as colleges, grow into universities, but retain the original name.

college VS. university :

尽管两者间通常是这种关系，但也有例外。一些college可能比university还大，一些college可能还会提供硕士学位。更复杂的是，一些符合university标准的高校也许会选择自称为college。有些高校一开始是college，后来发展成university，但仍保留原来的名字。

People tend to think of a university as being more prestigious or harder to get into, but there are too many variables to make that determination at a glance. Some colleges might ask more of applicants than universities. Some universities might be smaller than certain colleges. Either one can be public or private.

人们往往会认为university更有声望更难进，但其实不能根据名称来仓促判断，因为变量太多。一些college对申请者的要求比university还要高。有些university可能比某些college还小。两种高校都既可能是公立的，也可能是私立的。

In the UK, students go off to university (or uni) instead of college. The British version of college is typically a two-year program where students either focus on learning one particular skill set (much like a vocational school) or use the time to prepare for exams so that they can advance to university.

尽管这两个词从严格意义上来讲不能互换，但两者的差别足以将二者区分开来。要知道，美国的一些州，比如新泽西州，对于高校取名有规定。在该州，一所高校至少必须有三个学科提供研究生学位才能自称为university。

注：文中部分资料来源中国日报网，英文来源Mental Floss.