college

/kol"ij/, n.

1. an institution of higher learning, esp. one providing a general or liberal arts education rather than technical or professional training. Cf. university.

2. a constituent unit of a university, furnishing courses of instruction in the liberal arts and sciences, usually leading to a bachelor's degree.

3. an institution for vocational, technical, or professional instruction, as in medicine, pharmacy, agriculture, or music, often a part of a university.

4. an endowed, self-governing association of scholars incorporated within a university, as at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge in England.

5. a similar corporation outside a university.

6. the building or buildings occupied by an institution of higher education.

7. the administrators, faculty, and students of a college.

8. (in Britain and Canada) a private secondary school.

9. an organized association of persons having certain powers and rights, and performing certain duties or engaged in a particular pursuit: The electoral college formally selects the president.

10. a company; assemblage.

11. Also called collegium. a body of clergy living together on a foundation for religious service or similar activity.

12. Brit. Slang. a prison.

[1350-1400; ME < AF, MF < L collegium, equiv. to col- COL-¹ + leg-, var. s. of legere to gather + -ium -IUM; cf. COLLEAGUE]

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I

Institution that offers postsecondary education.

The term has various meanings. In Roman law a collegium was a body of persons associated for a common function. The name was used by many medieval institutions, including guilds. In most universities of the later Middle Ages, collegium meant an endowed residence hall for university students. The colleges kept libraries and scientific instruments and offered salaries to tutors who could prepare students to be examined for degrees. Eventually few students lived outside colleges, and college teaching eclipsed university teaching. In England, secondary schools (e.g., Winchester and Eton) are sometimes called colleges. Canada also has collegiate schools. In the U.S., college may refer to a four-year institution of higher education offering a bachelor's degree, or to a two-year junior or community college with a program leading to the associate's degree. A four-year college usually emphasizes a liberal arts or general education rather than specialized technical or vocational preparation. The four-year college may be an independent private institution or an undergraduate division of a university.

II

(as used in expressions)

Amherst College

Bard College

Bowdoin College

Bryn Mawr College

Carleton College

Dartmouth College

Davidson College

Trinity College

electoral college

Eton College

Haverford College

junior college

community college

Land Grant College Act of 1862

Middlebury College

Morehouse College

Mount Holyoke College

Oberlin College

Smith College

Spelman College

Swarthmore College

Vassar College

Wellesley College

William and Mary College of

Williams College

Dartmouth College case

Trustees of Dartmouth College v. Woodward

Claremont Colleges

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▪ education

      an institution that offers post-secondary education. The term is used without uniformity of meaning.

      In Roman law a collegium was a body of persons associated for a common function. The name was used by many medieval institutions—from guilds to the body that elected the Holy Roman emperor.

      Secondary schools are sometimes called colleges. England's Winchester and Eton colleges—which date from the 14th century—are examples. From 1539 to 1773 the Jesuits built collegia in Catholic countries and colonies. In post-Napoleonic France municipalities founded collèges where the central government's lycées were not available.

      In medieval Bologna the body of instructors was called the collegium and the student body the universitas. But some students lived in collegia. In most universities of the later Middle Ages, collegium meant an endowed residence hall for students, usually candidates for both bachelor and advanced degrees. The colleges grew strongest at the University of Paris (Paris I–XIII, Universities of) and at the universities of Oxford (Oxford, University of) and Cambridge (Cambridge, University of). Each had colleges in the 13th century, notably Paris' Sorbonne, Oxford's Merton, and Cambridge's Peterhouse. By 1500 few students lived outside colleges. The colleges kept libraries and scientific instruments and offered regular salaries—occasionally chairs—to doctors and tutors who could prepare students to be examined for degrees. College teaching eclipsed university teaching. Eventually, the holder of a university chair had little to do besides examining students who had been prepared in the various colleges.

      Colleges disappeared from Paris and the rest of continental Europe during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic periods. But colleges have retained their function at Oxford and Cambridge, although the trend has been to share instructors and resources among themselves and with the universities. The Swedish nation and the Spanish colegio are contemporary continental efforts to gain some of the advantages of the older system.

      Dublin University (Dublin, University of) and its first college—Trinity—were both founded in 1591; the college and the university became almost one because no other colleges were founded, although distant Magee College later affiliated.

      The idea that a college trains for a degree and a university grants it was strong in the 19th-century British system. Two colleges were founded in London in the 1820s, but in 1836 the University of London (London, University of) was founded to grant degrees to their students. Many other colleges—most of them physically remote from each other—have affiliated with that university. The University of Durham was founded in 1837 as an Oxford-model campus with several colleges for residence and teaching; it later acquired affiliate colleges elsewhere—some in British colonies. University colleges were founded by Roman Catholics in Ireland in the 1850s; their students were usually examined for degrees at established universities until the National University of Ireland was founded in 1908. Other universities with colleges were founded. But English universities founded after 1879—commonly called “red brick” universities—have no colleges. The University of St. Andrews in Scotland is composed of two colleges.

      The Maritime Provinces and Ontario in Canada have had colleges since the late 18th century, but most colleges in English-speaking Canada are affiliated with universities. Colleges were founded in the Cape Province in South Africa in the 19th century; most later became universities. In Australia universities without colleges were founded in the 19th century. But teachers' colleges and “colleges of advanced education” exist—and grant bachelor's degrees. New Zealand's only college other than a teachers' college is a campus affiliated with a university. British Africa had mostly colleges until independence, when national universities—often on the London model—were founded.

      In the United States college may refer to a four-year institution of higher education offering only the bachelor's degree, or it may refer to a junior or community college with a two-year program that leads to the associate degree. A four-year college usually emphasizes a liberal-arts or general education rather than specialized technical or vocational preparation. The four-year college may be an independent privately controlled liberal-arts college, or it may be the undergraduate division of a private or state university. A university division that offers a graduate or professional degree is usually called either a “college” or a “school” or “graduate school.” The term “college” also refers to separate degree-granting professional institutions such as state teachers' colleges and agricultural colleges. “College” is also used in the names of institutions that teach office skills, automotive repair, hairdressing, and other trades.

      In 1783 the United States had nine colleges that had earlier been chartered to grant bachelor's degrees and were sometimes informally called universities. After independence, states established universities similar to those colleges, and teachers' colleges and agricultural colleges were also founded. Cornell University, in Ithaca, N.Y., opened in 1868 and was the first American university to be divided into colleges offering different degrees. When Johns Hopkins University opened in 1876, it was divided administratively into an undergraduate college and a graduate school. Many state universities quickly imitated this plan, and in the 1890s Yale, Harvard, and other private universities did likewise.

      The Collège de France—with antecedents in France dating to 1518—offers postsecondary study but no degrees. In Quebec, collèges classiques offer secondary and baccalaureate studies and are affiliated with universities. In Germany Kollegien appears in the name of some institutions offering technical courses. See also higher education.

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