What is the difference between college and university? In everyday use, these terms are used interchangeably. In specific contexts, however, they have different meanings.

college和university有什么区别？在日常使用中，这两个词没有特别明确的界限。但是，在某些特定的情况下，它们确实具有不同的含义。

What does college mean?

College是一个名词。在美式英语中，泛指本科教育或本科教育机构。

Colleges offer two- and four-year degrees in various subjects, and some may also offer graduate studies.

College可以授予多种学科的两年制或四年制学位，也有一部分college可提供研究生学习。

In both American and British English, college could also refer to an individual school or program within a university.

美式和英式英语中，college也可以指大学内的个别院系或项目。

college: 多指大学内的学院，分科学院或科目较少的高等学校。

college life

大学生活

Williams College

威廉姆斯学院

是一所位于美国马萨诸塞州威廉姆斯镇的私立文理学院，为全美排名最佳的文理大学之一，校友不乏政商名流。

college of engineering

工学院，工程学院

college of liberal arts

人文学院;文学院

college of science

理学院

What does university mean?

In both American and British English, university is a post-secondary institution that offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in a variety of subjects across several programs.

在美式和英式英语中，university是一所高等教育机构，可以授予多种学科的本科和研究生学位。

Beijing Normal University

北京师范大学

Peking University

北京大学

在我们认知范围内的国内大学，一般都称作university，大学里的院系叫做college，但是在欧美的教育体系中college的含义要比国内更多，某些专业性较强的大学他们也称作college。如果只是单单笼统的说“大学”，在英语中university和college都是可以的。在美语中，“上大学”这个概念常用college这个词。

例：

He intended to start his college education next year.

他打算明年开始上大学。

记忆技巧

A university is a collection of specialized schools. A college is one school. Often, universities are comprised of several colleges.

University是一系列专业的综合院校。而college是一所专门学科的院校。通常，universities由几所colleges组成。

Just like the universe contains many schools, a university will usually also contain many schools. You can use the similarity between universe and university to remember the meaning of this word.

就像宇宙（universe）包含许多学校一样，university通常也会包含许多学校。您可以使用宇宙（universe）和大学（university）之间的相似性来记住这个词的含义。