College vs. University

The Writing is on the Wall

I foresee the day when most colleges will offer only Associate degrees, while universities will offer Bachelors degrees (or higher). Hence, we will be left with a choice of the community college (for an Associate degree) or the university (for a Bachelors, Masters or Doctoral degree).

Many four-year colleges have already switched to the "university" title, while community colleges retain their designation as a "college." My ex-wife graduated from Lock Haven College and even they have switched to "university" status.

Why are so many four-year colleges switching to “university” status? Why would a tiny school like Lock Haven College switch their name to Lock Haven University? It can’t simply be about prestige… or can it? There must be more to it.

I find this trend to be accelerating, as well as interesting.

 

Yes, this is a definate trend and has been for a number of years. I know of a whole score of "colleges" that have become "universities". Part of the rationale that I have read from the literature of these institutions suggests that you are correct. Some are doing it to sound more "legitimate" to potential students, while others do not want to be confused with community colleges.

Often, universities will have several "colleges" within the institution (e.g. University of California will have a college of business, college of education, college of arts, etc.)

Anthony Piña
Faculty, California State U. San Bernardino

 

Confusing a college with a community college???

Bingo!!!

 

except that there is nothing to prevent Community Colleges from using university!

 

Junior Colleges vs. Junior Universities?

Hummmm, an interesting thought.

Historically, aren't colleges trade or work oriented, while universities are research oriented? In Canada and Europe, a college is different from a university, whereas in the U.S., the distinction has no hard and fast rules.

 

I realized as I was reading ths earlier that the "university" where I got my first credits is in Indiana. It is a two year college called Vincennes University.

 

A university in the community college system

Remarkable!!! A university that only offers Associate degrees!!! No Bachelors degrees!!!

• Source: Vincennes University

 

I think there is a definite trend and it has been going on for some time. In the late 80's and into the 90's North Dakota went through a transformation. All of the 4 year schools that were Colleges are now Universities. Bismarck Junior College is now Bismarck State College (still ofeering only 2 year degrees).

John

 

Junior College = State College?

Yes, that’s a fascinating trend. I too noticed that the ”junior colleges” became ”state colleges” in that state. Historically (at least in the U.S.), state colleges offered Bachelors degrees, but in this instance, they now only offer Associate degrees. Boy, talk about confusion!!!

 

think you will find that when state schools have made this change...a common feature exists...multiples colleges or schools on the campus...thus university title.

 

Good example is Saint Leo College .. renamed as Saint Leo University.

 

In his book "Class", Paul Fussell has a very funny section on just this trend.

There is a perverse signification in this trend, however. As middling schools seek to enhance their status by "upgrading" from college to university, quite a number of historically excellent four-year colleges are simply doing no such thing. The net result may well be that community and junior colleges will be "college", a number of historically elite four-year schools will be "colllege", and everything else from the University of Phoenix to the University of Chicago (howzat for a range???) will be "university".

Here's an interesting example, though my landsman Andy Borchers may not see it quite the same way. There is a tech school near Detroit called Lawrence Technological University. It used to be called Lawrence Institute of Technology. Personally, I do not think the name change enhanced its prestige. To me, personally, now it sounds like a restricted (and thus deficient) university, while previously it sounded like a specialized elite institution (echoing MIT, I guess). Now none of this is any reflection on the real quality of LTU nee LIT; it's just a squirrelly meditation on the power of nomenclature.

 

When I went to University in Canada a college was a constituent part of a university (eg Royal College of Med), etc. We also had affliated and federated colleges. One could enroll through a Catholic College on campus but the degree was awarded by the University.

North

 

In Texas, this is currently the standard -- by law. Any institution that offers bachelor's degrees and above is a university. Any institution that offers associate's degrees, but no bachelor's degrees, is a college.

However, this will likely change by the next academic year. New legislation that is likely to pass in the next couple of weeks will allow Texas community colleges to follow a trend that is materializing in other parts of the nation (Florida being the prime example) -- community colleges that grant bachelor's degrees. These tend to be "applied bachelor's" degrees (B.A.S., Bachelor of Applied Science) -- vocational rather than academic. But it is certainly an emerging trend that throws a wrench into the previous trend of bachelor's degrees and above only being granted by Universities.

(There's a recent Chronicle of Higher Education story about this trend, but I don't have my password here, so I can't post the link.)

 

There will be some unhappy state universities. There were already wars between the CC & the local state U. The state U would not accept many CC credits etc (even though the courses matched up). Most will not welcome competition especially in these budget restricted times. Good move for CC's though.

North

 

I ment to post under this thread and ended up starting a new one.

My comments are here:

http://www.degreeinfo.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8633

 

Interesting.

Recently, Saint Petersburg Junior College dropped the "Junior" and began offering bachelors degrees that are of a technical nature.

• Website of St. Petersburg College in Florida.
• Technical bachelors degrees: click here

 

Here's the article:

Making Waves in Miami

A leading community college offers bachelor's degrees, reflecting national tension between 2- and 4-year sectors

(I think you have to be a subscriber to the Chronicle to access this)

 

While I was studying in Utah, this change occurred at two institutions in the state. Utah Technical College became Utah
Valley Community College in 1987 and then, few years later, added some bachelor degree programs and changed its name to Utah Valley State College. Dixie College underwent a similar transformation and is now know as Dixie State College.

Can Utah Valley State University and Dixie State University be far behind?

Tony Piña
Faculty, CSU San Bernardino

 

I spent my first two years of undergrad study at a 4-year, private liberal arts college in South Dakota. Shortly after I left, they changed to a "university." One of the primary rationales they provided was that their "college" name was making it difficult for them to retain international students from cultures where the term "college" implied something considerably less than the term "university." Thus, their name change reflected, in part, an effort to bolster their effectiveness in attracting and retaining international students.