Colleges and Universities--a short guide for 2004

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
document 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-supported 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 important 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.

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In article <slrnc6njmj.1j6.ylee DeleteThis @pobox.com>,
Yeechang Lee <ylee DeleteThis @pobox.com> wrote:

> 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
> document of mine that has enlightened many on Usenet.

A couple of notes:

> ---------------------------
<snippety>

> *) A _university_ [1] does offer degrees beyond the BA/BS level. These
> typically include law, medicine, and MBA degrees.
> Examples: Princeton University, Wesleyan University

Denison University (where my father taught biology) is a four-year
college with no postgraduate programs.

> *) 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)

Rutgers is, in fact, "The State University of New Jersey".

> 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.

Jim

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