College - British and American usage contrasted - Encyclopedia II

The most confusing aspect of the conflict between the British and American terminology arises from the colloquial use of the word "college" by Americans. Where a British person (or indeed, most people around the world) would say "attend university", the American instead says, "go to college" — even if he is referring to a something formally called a university. In Britain, aside from usage in reference to collegiate universities as detailed above, to attend "college" would usually be accepted as meaning one attends a technical college or a specific sixth form institution (NB. Most state schools and public schools in Britain have sixth forms, but there are a number of sixth form specific institutions). However, in the States, the student at the enormous University of Michigan still calls it his "college". Similarly, the institution that administers many standardized admissions tests in the US is known as the College Board. Thus to the American, the word "college" refers not only to an institution but to a phase in one's life. Anywhere else in the world that phase is called "university".

However, this phase itself varies somewhat around the world, which can lead to confusion even when the terminology is understood. Two outstanding features of the American version are universality and breadth:

1. nearly half of all Americans attend at least one year of "college", so the word is more natural, less remarkable, than "university" might sound abroad. At the less-academic end of the scale, American universities award a great many degrees for professional training which might be accomplished on-the-job elsewhere.
2. at the more-academic end of the scale, on the other hand, many American college students (especially at the most elite institutions) see "college" as a time of intellectual exploration which can be accomplished free from any need to prepare for the future, believing graduate school to be the time for that. The American system, by permitting students to spend some of their time in classes entirely removed from their major field of study, forces much less specialization and focus than is common in the rest of the world. Hence "college" is less dryly academic than "university" might sound abroad. Furthermore, a great many students in American universities and colleges live either in institution-run dormitories or in neighborhoods made up largely of student apartments. Hence one's college years involve a quite distinct kind of living arrangement between the family home and the first adult apartment.

For all these reasons, "college" as a phase-in-life between childhood and adulthood has become very important culturally in America, perhaps more so than in the rest of the world.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "British and American usage contrasted", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page