College of Medicine vs. School of Medicine

[Dr. Stalker]

Medical schools have many names, but why are some college of medicine/medical college while others are school of medicine?

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[Dr. Stalker]

No reason...just historical usage

Hmm, I've always equated college = undergrad = bachelors. Why are some schools named "college of medicine" then if they confer a medical doctorate upon graduation???

 

[Dr. Stalker]

Because you have incorrectly equated college and undergrad. the American College of Surgeons, The Electorial College and The College of Musical Knowledge are all examples.

So what is the correct definition of "college" then good sir?

 

[UBLI-EINSTEIN]

Hmm, I've always equated college = undergrad = bachelors. Why are some schools named "college of medicine" then if they confer a medical doctorate upon graduation???

Obviously this is a wrong definition. In our university, there are lots of "colleges", such as liberal arts and science college, college of engineering, and college of business...
These colleges may cover both undergraduate or graduate students.
I would call college as a small version of university, and it's designed for a more specific area of studying.

 

[Endoxifen]

So what is the correct definition of "college" then good sir?

College:

1. an educational institution or establishment, in particular
2. an organized group of professional people with particular aims, duties, and privileges.

 

[Perfect Hair Day]

Do we have nothing better to do with our youth on a Friday night than split this particular hair?

/thread.

 

[JustAPhD]

Do we have nothing better to do with our youth on a Friday night than split this particular hair?

/thread.

Stalking allows for a certain amount of down time.

 

[aldol16]

College:

1. an educational institution or establishment, in particular
2. an organized group of professional people with particular aims, duties, and privileges.

An example of the less-used second definition above is the college of cardinals for the election of a new pope. Really cool process for those interested, although it has been much publicized by Dan Brown books.

 

[efle]

I'd always heard that college meant below PhD level/PhDs were not done there, whereas university = PhDs. Hence liberal arts colleges vs research universities being the two major options post-highschool, or the college of arts and sciences being the undergrad subdivision of a research university.

But since there are places like the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons I guess MD naming plays by its own rules.

 

[boogiecousins94]

isn't Harvard undergrad technically "Harvard College" since there are many schools within the University

 

[Endoxifen]

I'd always heard that college meant below PhD level/PhDs were not done there, whereas university = PhDs. Hence liberal arts colleges vs research universities being the two major options post-highschool, or the college of arts and sciences being the undergrad subdivision of a research university.

But since there are places like the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons I guess MD naming plays by its own rules.

At my school, the major disciplines are divided into different colleges. For example, I'm in the College of Science. The separation is regardless of graduate or undergraduate status. I think this fits with the 2nd def. pretty well.

 

[efle]

At my school, the major disciplines are divided into different colleges. For example, I'm in the College of Science. The separation is regardless of graduate or undergraduate status. I think this fits with the 2nd def. pretty well.

After some googling I've just gotten even more confused. There are lots of places saying a university is just a college that also offers multiple areas of graduate ed, but then there are also lots of prominent examples of places with tons of graduate programs that call themselves colleges, like Dartmouth College (or even better, Boston College vs Boston University).

I give up.

 

[Endoxifen]

After some googling I've just gotten even more confused. There are lots of places saying a university is just a college that also offers multiple areas of graduate ed, but then there are also lots of prominent examples of places with tons of graduate programs that call themselves colleges, like Dartmouth College (or even better, Boston College vs Boston University).

I give up.

It's possible that schools capitalize on that colloquial misunderstanding by choosing to name themselves "college" when they are specifically meaning "undergraduate"... assuming that that works out chronologically.

 

[Dr. Stalker]

Stalking allows for a certain amount of down time.

Tbh it doesn't. Friday nights are primetime to hide in bushes, climb trees, stock up and black sweaters/ski masks. Oh, and binoculars.

 

[cactusman]

After some googling I've just gotten even more confused. There are lots of places saying a university is just a college that also offers multiple areas of graduate ed, but then there are also lots of prominent examples of places with tons of graduate programs that call themselves colleges, like Dartmouth College (or even better, Boston College vs Boston University).

I give up.

It's called a university because it encompasses multiple educational groups as one (got that uni- root in there). There are historical names which have stuck around even though they're no longer really accurate (e.g. Dartmouth - I think some of the Ivies actually started as what we would consider a high school/college blend, and JHU markets itself as the nation's first RU) and there are liberal arts colleges which are technically accurate in calling themselves universities (Colgate, Wesleyan, Bucknell all have graduate programs, although some of them are really really tiny).

 

[Lucca]

the word "college" just means an association (from Latin collegium, an association). Universities are likewise from the Latin "universus" which means something like a collection of guilds (also the whole "holistic, unified" meaning).

historically, Universities are merely collections of departments and the colleges of a university are residential and academic associations. This is most obvious when you look at some of the original collegiate universities in the West, Oxford and Cambridge. In the past (and, to a lesser extent, still to this day) colleges only offer residence to students and faculty working in certain departments. To an extent, they represent an association of scholars, tutors, and students and in some respects a professional association. The University is just the departments, i.e. English, Biology, etc. To put it more simply, "the University is work, the College is home". So a college is an association and a university is a collection of associations!

"School" is obvious, it's a place where u learn stuff.

Harvard and Yale are technically still residential collegiate universities. Not the same as OxCam but they have their own houses and residential communities which, importantly, are separate from the Departments of the University. Rice does the same, and probably some others. The main difference is that the modern "liberal arts" education is an American invention, so none of the residential divisions at Harvard, Yale, Rice really mean anything in so far as who studies there / supervises the college (since a liberal arts education implies that everyone, regardless of their departmental affiliation, studies a broad range of subjects).

 

[aldol16]

After some googling I've just gotten even more confused. There are lots of places saying a university is just a college that also offers multiple areas of graduate ed, but then there are also lots of prominent examples of places with tons of graduate programs that call themselves colleges, like Dartmouth College (or even better, Boston College vs Boston University).

This is because the American education system is modeled after the British system but without the extensive history to fully explain the appropriation of the British naming system. As an example, just look at Cambridge University. The University of Cambridge is a large institution that involves many academic departments and, importantly, colleges. St. John's College, Trinity College, King's College, etc. are all colleges within Cambridge. The closest analog in America is a residential college system (if you went to one of those top universities modeled after the British system that has this, like Harvard). Here, you apply to the university and are placed in a residential college, which doesn't have that big of an impact on your education. You feel a bigger sense of community towards your university and not towards your residential college. But in the UK, colleges and universities are completely different in that you apply to the college to gain entrance to the university. So for example, you apply directly to Trinity College for admission to the University of Cambridge system. You pay Trinity College for tuition, you live there, and you socialize there. Each college has its own endowment. And each college is part of the greater University of Cambridge.

In America, these lines have been blurred because we don't have anything like the British system where colleges can be part of a larger university. So here, college can mean university because most universities only have one undergraduate college. Also, when referring to a College of Arts and Sciences, for instance, that use of college is more in line with the second definition, namely "an organized group of professional people with particular aims, duties, and privileges" rather than "educational institution" even though it is also an educational institution in function.