What's in a name? College versus University versus Institute versus ???

I've been seeing more and more "colleges" turning into "universities". Apparently "institute" is also deficient somehow because Fielding Graduate Institute became Fielding Graduate University.

What's in a name? Do these things have actual legal, procedural, or social meanings?

All other things being equal, would you prefer your degree be from a university instead of a college?

 

I would prefer it to be from a university because it sounds larger and (for lack of a better word) more prestigious... However I will have 2 colleges and 1 university on my resume when I'm done with these degrees so obviously it doesn't bother me THAT much

 

With the caveat that these are certainly not hard and fast rules, it is my understanding that a "college" is primarily concerned with the education of undergraduates and awards mostly (sometimes) associates and (usually) bachelor's degrees. A "university", by contrast conducts research and graduate education and awards degrees at the masters and doctoral levels in addition to undergraduate degrees. An "institute" can be similar to either, but is usually more limited in scope, offering only a few related subjects.

That's my take - anyone else want to shoot me down here?

 

or Polytechnic Institute of New York University, Southern Polytechnic State University, Northwestern Polytechnic University, etc.?

While the difference between a polytechnic and a university in the United States may be blurred, in other parts of the world (Europe specifically), a polytechnic by definition offer professional or practitioner (hands-on, real-life degrees, if you will) programs in highly technical fields such as engineering, architecture, etc. While an institution is a universities when it offers advanced graduate research (theory-based, abstract) programs in virtually any number of fields including the arts, science, etc.

In my understanding, colleges (used mostly in the U.S) are schools that offer two-year degrees, or at most, undergraduate degrees in a variety of fields. Most colleges that now offer graduate degrees started with the aim of offering two-year or four-year programs, but later on, added the graduate degrees to their program lineup.

In sum, universities are the most prestigious and they offer advanced research-based degrees without limitation to the fields of study. Polytechnics (or institutes) are technical schools that offer hands-on practitioner degrees in highly technical areas such as engineering technology (example: BS in Electronics Engineering Technology). Colleges offer two-year or four-year programs in a variety of fields.

 

Additional point regarding polytechnics.
In some countries (Nigeria, for example), a polytechnic can only offer OND (Ordinary National Diploma) or HND (Higher National Diploma). The OND equates to the an Associates degree which is conferred after the first two years of college, while the HND equates to the last two years of undergraduate degree.

Polytechnics cannot offer a BS or BA degree, and no graduate degrees are offered. On the other hand, universities are only allowed to offer BS or BA (or anything else: BBA, BPS etc.), as well as graduate and post-graduate degrees. A university cannot award OND or HND under any circumstances.

In countries that adhere to these differences in schools, many graduates of polytechnics with ONDs or HNDs are looked down as "folks with inferior degrees," and often discriminated against for jobs, as well as during graduate school admission decision-making process. In these countries also, they often used BSc and MSc instead of BS or MS as used in the United States. Further, a degree such as Doctor of Business Adminsitration (DBA) or Doctor of Computer Science (DCS) or even Doctor of Management (DM) degrees are "looked-down-upon" (as inferior) and regarded as "coursework-only" doctorates that are less research-intensive, and holders of them, are also, often, discriminated against especially, if applying for teaching jobs at universities. PhD in Business Administration, DSc or PhD in Computer Science, or PhD in Management are preferred and would be highly respected compared the the aforementioned.

 

I forgot about polytechnics. I guess you could also add "career school" or "technical school" to the list. These would be like low level polytechnics, I suppose.

 

Let's hit all the names at once: there's a "Graphic Communication Institute" in the "College of Liberal Arts" of the "California Polytechnic State University" in San Luis Obispo.

 

One of my favorites is the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, which is none of the above!

 

I have no knowledge as to why some are called on thing while others are called something else.

When I hear "College" I think of something smaller in scale.

When I hear "University" I think of something larger in scale.

When I hear "Institute" I think of some form of speciality education or trade school.

Again, I have no idea what I'm talking about, but these are the things that come mind when I hear them, lol.

 

I like to take opportunities like this to point out that due to the naming conventions (and other important factors) Boston University is better then Boston College!

 

I would say it depends....but I agree with most of the replies.

College - Small institution
University - Larger in size (which I prefer)
Institute - More into specialty...but..

Massachusetts Institute of Technology and California Institute of Technology are better than George Washington University.

Dartmouth College is better than George Washington University and Florida Institute of Technology.

Aspen University, which is just an office in the large building compares to Dartmouth College; not only in facilities, but also faculties and academic offers.

 

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Often times the classification is made by the institution's parent system. That is if it belongs to one. I know in the university system of Georgia. There are specific guidelines between a college, state college, and university. Typically this has to do with mission scope rather than size. Independent institutions probably call themselves whatever they want outside of any RA issues. I know SACS has guidelines on campus versus site versus center. Not sure about naming conventions. I assume other RA's have similar rules.