Charlie Pearce (charlie.pearce@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
) wrote:
> On Tue, 8 Apr 2008 10:27:50 -0700 (PDT), "Richard R. Hershberger"
> <rrhersh@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
>>27 seems to me absurdly low. I wouldn't be surprised to find that
>>close to 27 institutions of higher learning in my state of
>>Maryland have football teams. That is including both colleges and
>>universities.
>
> Colleges *and* universities? I always assumed they were synonyms
> in the USA. What's the defining difference?
>
It's a pity Yeechang Lee is no longer around to post his annual
clarification of this and related questions. It used to come around
like clockwork every April 1st.
Here it is:
=====================
Now that it's the time of the year schools are sending out
acceptance letters to eager applicants, I think this is a good time
to repost a do***ent of mine that has enlightened many on Usenet.
---------------------------
There are, according to one estimate, 1600 institutions of higher
learning in the United States. Unlike other nations, many of
America's colleges and universities are privately run in addition to
the government-sup****ted schools. Since public schools often have
tuitions far lower than their private counterparts, thus
consequently impacting financial aid, the question of how to tell
public and private schools apart is an im****tant one. For that
matter, what's with the whole "college" vs. "university" thing,
anyway? It's all easy, if you keep some simple principles in mind.
*) A _college_ does not offer degrees beyond the BA/BS level.
Examples: Boston College, Dartmouth College, The College of
William and Mary, Bryn Mawr College
*) A _university_ [1] does offer degrees beyond the BA/BS level.
These typically include law, medicine, and MBA degrees.
Examples: Princeton University, Wesleyan University
*) An _institute_ or a _polytechnic_ offers vocational-technical
degrees in fields like automobile or appliance repair. They may be
public or private (see below).
Examples: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, California
Institute of Technology, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute,
California Polytechnic State University
*) A college or university named after a _city_ is a public school
operated by that city.
Examples: University of Chicago, New York University[2],
Boston College, Princeton University, University of San
Diego, University of San Francisco, Seattle University
*) A college or university named after a _state_ is a public school
operated by that state.
Examples: University of Pennsylvania, University of Southern
California, Connecticut College, Colorado College
*) A college or university named after a _person_ is a private
institution.
Examples: Rutgers University, The College of William and Mary,
Truman State University (MO), Thomas Edison State College
(NJ), Medgar Evers College (NY), LaGuardia Community College
(NY)
I hope this has been instructive and useful.
[1] Leland Stanford Junior University (CA) is currently attempting
to meet US Department of Education guidelines for qualifying as a
full university. This status is expected to be reached as of the
2004-2005 school year.
[2] New York University is operated by the City and the State of New
York in tandem.
--
Opus the Penguin
She gave him that disgusted look that women give to men who have
utterly failed in their gossip responsibilities. - Lisa Ann
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