College和University的区别不仅仅是学院和大学的区别那么简单！_BEC初级作文

College和University的区别不仅仅是学院和大学的区别那么简单！

尽管university这个词汇在这两者中历史更悠久，早在13世纪就产生了，但北美的学校和学生却主要用college来指代大多数高校。这两个词没有严格的定义，但却有各自的属性。北美的college一般指提供本科学位（比如准学士学位或学士学位）的四年制大学。（社区学院通常是两年制高校）。College一般不提供硕士或博士学位，学生规模通常也没有university大。

Universities, on the other hand, tend to offer both undergraduate and graduate programs leading to advanced degrees for a larger group of students. They can also be comprised of several schools—referred to as colleges—under their umbrella. A university could offer both a school of arts and sciences and a school of business. The University of Michigan has a College of Engineering, for example.

University则一般都会提供本科和研究生课程，有更大的学生群体能获得高级学位。University还可以包含college，即学院。一所university旗下可能有艺术学院、科学学院和商学院。比如密歇根大学（university）旗下就有工程学院（college）。

While many of these traits are common, they’re not guaranteed. Some colleges can be bigger than universities, some might offer master’s degrees, and so on. To complicate matters further, an institution that fits the criteria of a university might choose to call itself a college. Both Dartmouth College and Boston College qualify as universities but use the college label owing to tradition. Schools may begin as colleges, grow into universities, but retain the original name.