What is the difference between College and University (USA)

[Personherebb9]

I know I could probably just google this, but I wanted to know from Americans what they personally think the difference is between a college and university (in the USA).

In South Africa we distinguish between Colleges and Universities this way:
1) Universities are PUBLIC GOVERNMENTAL institutions that offer higher certificates, diplomas, undergrad and postgrad degrees. (University of Cape Town, Stellenbosch University, University of Pretoria.)
2.a) Colleges can be PRIVATE institutions that follow the same degree structure of South African or international curriculums, however private institutions can legally not refer to themselves as "universities" since that term is reserved for PUBLIC institutions only. (Varsity College, IIE MSA, Eduvos) 
2.b) Colleges can also refer to alternative "trade" schools, where you obtain an NQF qualification for learning certain practical skills. For example: mechanics, plumbing, welding, etc. These forms of colleges can usually be attended the moment you have your SC (Senior Certificate) qualification (grade 9 equivalent) and are usually common alternatives for those not wanting to do a matric (NSC- National Senior Certificate).

Now I've noticed that this is not the case for the USA as I see the term college and university being used quite interchangeably. For example, on some sites I've seen "Harvard University" on other sited I've seen "Harvard College". I know Excelsior recently changed from College to University, however does that signify anything other than just a name change? 

In South Africa the moment you hear "(institutions name)_College", it's usually never a good thing, since South Africans typically don't respect degrees that come from private institutes. This is mostly because they have the connotation of being "buy my degree" institutions. I believe it's common for Europeans to also frown down upon private institutions. In South Africa at least, people have the argument that our education is relatively cheap and of high standards so why would you attend an "university" that charges quadruple that of a public institute.

So what is the difference in the USA?

[rachel83az]

College in the US can refer to a few things:

1.) Trade schools. There are nursing assistant colleges and air conditioning colleges, for instance.
2.) A place where you can get a 2-year degree; this sometimes overlaps with non-degree training for things like air conditioning or dental hygiene. These are usually referred to as community colleges.
3.) Schools that used to only offer 2-year degrees, but now they've been granted permission to offer 4-year degrees. Diné College is an example of this.
4.) A sub-section of a university. Harvard College is one section of Harvard University. At TESU, the BA and BSBA degrees are granted by different colleges within the university. The degrees will all say TESU, though.

[freeloader]

I know Excelsior recently changed from College to University, however does that signify anything other than just a name change? 

Not really. Universities in the United States tend to be larger and to have more offerings at the graduate/post-graduate level, but this is not a hard and fast rule. 

There are “universities” that don’t grant any degrees beyond the bachelor’s and there are colleges, which are not part of universities, which have extensive and well-regarded graduate offerings. Dartmouth College and Boston College are perhaps the most notable examples of the latter. 

Of course, there are also a few “colleges” that are high schools, offering only secondary schooling, such as Philadelphia’s Gerard College. Then there are institutions like the College of Physicians in Philadelphia which is a professional organization and society, more akin to the College of Cardinals that an academic university.

[Sparklette]

There's unfortunately not a single straightforward answer. Some states have more regulations about what schools can call themselves, but even then there are often ones that pre-date those regulations and are grandfathered in to continue using their already established name.
State typically reserve the phrasing State University for public institutions. University of '"State Name" often is as well, with University of Pennsylvania being a notable exception. There are also plenty of public state universities that do not use the state's name at all and even public bachelor + institutions that don't use the word University at all.
As a foreign student, there's probably no major reason to be concerned about if the school is public vs private as that mainly impacts cost for residents of the particular state (or more rarely nearby states with consortium exchange agreements). What you'd want to look at is if the school is accredited and fully authorized to confer the degree you're after (sometimes schools have provisional approval and if that falls through the limited options to recoup the credits might be too restrictive to accommodate a foreign student) and what it costs for you.

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But also. Just shooting this out there. You mentioned before being concerned about your education being recognized as a high school graduation. Depending on what state your family is moving to, sometimes you can qualify for in state tuition by completing the GED in that state. I know someone that had issues getting their transcripts sent from Russia, so they did the GED in Washington state and were able to go to a state university there with in state tuition as a result. It's not universal though, so would depend on the state's specific rules and likely also dependent on what your visa or residency status is.

[dfrecore]

Also, private vs public is not a thing here. All of the Ivy League schools are private - Yale, Harvard, Princeton, etc. Lots of other colleges/universities are private and very "famous": Stanford, MIT, Duke, USC. And then there are lots of well-regarded public schools: UC Berkeley, UCLA, Texas A&M, Arizona State University.

It's all very interchangeable here.

[ss20ts]

Excelsior's name change was due to a change in the state law about what constituted a college vs university. Under the previous law, Excelsior was not eligible to be a university. Many colleges in NY have been renaming themselves with this change in the law.

Someone mentioned Boston College. They can't change their name to Boston University as there already is a Boston University. They're in the same state and same city. Both are private schools and aren't affiliated with UMass which is the state university system.

[thomasgreenezru]

I know I could probably just google this, but I wanted to know from Americans what they personally think the difference is between a college and university (in the USA).

In South Africa we distinguish between Colleges and Universities this way:
1) Universities are PUBLIC GOVERNMENTAL institutions that offer higher certificates, diplomas, undergrad and postgrad degrees. (University of Cape Town, Stellenbosch University, University of Pretoria.)
2.a) Colleges can be PRIVATE institutions that follow the same degree structure of South African or international curriculums, however private institutions can legally not refer to themselves as "universities" since that term is reserved for PUBLIC institutions only. (Varsity College, IIE MSA, Eduvos) 
2.b) Colleges can also refer to alternative "trade" schools, where you obtain an NQF qualification for learning certain practical skills. By the way, here I found some information about emergent norm theory, which is actually very interesting. For example: mechanics, plumbing, welding, etc. These forms of colleges can usually be attended the moment you have your SC (Senior Certificate) qualification (grade 9 equivalent) and are usually common alternatives for those not wanting to do a matric (NSC- National Senior Certificate).

Now I've noticed that this is not the case for the USA as I see the term college and university being used quite interchangeably. For example, on some sites I've seen "Harvard University" on other sited I've seen "Harvard College". I know Excelsior recently changed from College to University, however does that signify anything other than just a name change? 

In South Africa the moment you hear "(institutions name)_College", it's usually never a good thing, since South Africans typically don't respect degrees that come from private institutes. This is mostly because they have the connotation of being "buy my degree" institutions. I believe it's common for Europeans to also frown down upon private institutions. In South Africa at least, people have the argument that our education is relatively cheap and of high standards so why would you attend an "university" that charges quadruple that of a public institute.

So what is the difference in the USA?

using a simple language - an university is just something more "serious" than a college.

[ss20ts]

using a simple language - an university is just something more "serious" than a college.

Not necessarily. Individual state laws dictate what the requirements are to be called a university in each state. University and college are essentially the same thing in the US. Both colleges and universities can issue associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees. 

UMPI was a university before they offered a master's degree and only offered bachelor's and associate degrees. That's allowed in Maine. New York recently changed their laws on the differences between colleges and universities so many are now changing their name. Excelsior used to be a college which offered associate, bachelor's, and master's degrees. Excelsior is now a university due to the change in state law. In Tennessee, there's South College which offers doctorates. So really the terms are used interchangeably in the US.

[dfrecore]

So what is the difference in the USA?

using a simple language - an university is just something more "serious" than a college.

I'm guessing you didn't read through this post, because it was shown early on that this is not true.  There is no real difference between colleges and universities in the US - those words are used interchangeably.