College

College is a term most often used today to denote an educational institution. More broadly, it can be the name of any group of colleagues, for example, an electoral college, a College of Arms or the College of Cardinals. Originally, it meant a group of persons living together, under a common set of rules ; indeed, some colleges call their members "fellows". The precise usage of the term varies among the English-speaking countries. In American English, the word, in contrast to its many and varied British meanings, often refers to liberal arts colleges that provide education primarily at the undergraduate level. It can also refer to schools which offer a vocational, business, engineering, or technical curriculum. The term can either refer to a self-contained institution that has no graduate studies or to the undergraduate school of a full university (i.e., that also has a graduate school). In popular American usage, the word "college" is the generic term for any post-secondary undergraduate education. Americans go to "college" after high school, regardless of whether the specific institution is formally a college or a university, and the word and its derivatives are the standard terms used to describe the institutions and experiences associated with American post-secondary undergraduate education. Colleges vary in terms of size, degree, and length of stay. Two-year colleges, also known as junior or community colleges, offer the associate's degree and four-year colleges offer the bachelor's degree. These are usually primarily undergraduate institutions, although some might have limited programs at the graduate level. Four-year institutions in the U.S. which emphasize the liberal arts are liberal arts colleges. These schools are American institutions of higher education which have traditionally emphasized interactive instruction (although research is still a component of these institutions) at the undergraduate level. While there is no nationwide legal standard in the United States, the term "university" is primarily used to designate graduate education and research institutions, and is reserved by some US states, such as Massachusetts, will only grant a school "university status" if it grants at least two doctoral degrees. These colleges also encourage a high level of student-teacher interaction at the center of which are classes taught by full-time faculty rather than graduate student TAs (who teach some of the classes at Research I and other universities). They are known for being residential and for having smaller enrollment, class size, and teacher-student ratios than universities. The colleges are either coeducational, women's colleges, or men's colleges. Some are historically black colleges. Some are also secular (or not affiliated with a particular religion) while others are involved in religious education. Many are private. Some are public liberal arts colleges. In addition, colleges such as Hampshire College, Beloit College, Bard College at Simon's Rock, Pitzer College, Sarah Lawrence College, Bennington College, New College of Florida and Reed College offer experimental curricula. As of 2007, there were 2,804 degree-granting four-year colleges and universities in the United States. On the other hand, public and private universities are research-oriented institutions which service both an undergraduate and graduate student body. Graduate programs grant a variety of Master's degrees including M.B.A.s or M.F.A.s. The doctorate is the highest academic degree, and the Ph.D. is given in most fields. Medical schools award M.D.s while law schools award the J.S.D. as the highest academic achievement. These institutions usually have a large student body. Introductory seminars can have a class size in the hundreds in some of the larger schools. The interaction between students and full-time faculty can be limited as compared to some liberal arts colleges. At some of the larger universities some undergraduate classes are taught by graduate student TAs. At the same time, some American universities, such as Boston College, Dartmouth College, the College of Charleston and The College of William & Mary, have retained the term "college" in their names for historical reasons or because of an undergraduate focus, although they offer higher degrees. This problem led, in part, to the threatened lawsuit between Yale College Wrexham (equivalent to an American "high school") and Yale University, the latter claiming trademark infringement. Usage of the terms varies among the states, each of which operates its own institutions and licenses private ones. In 1996 for example, Georgia changed all of its four-year colleges to universities, and all of its vocational technology schools to technical colleges. (Previously, only the four-year research institutions were called universities.) Other states have changed the names of individual colleges, many having started as a teachers' college or vocational school (such as an A&M－an agricultural and mechanical school) that ended up as a full-fledged state university.