Canadians! And those who know things anyway.

[slemslempike]

Could someone please explain to me the difference between colleges and universities in Canada? I am under the impression that colleges are more vocational and universities are more academic in focus. Can you get degrees from colleges, or is it different qualifications altogether? This is just for a footnote, so I do not need too much detail, but I am befuddled by what I find on google.

Comments

[demiurgician.livejournal.com]

I can explain the way it works in America, which may or may not be the same as in Canada:

A University is the overall educational institution, for example the University of Chicago. Within the University there are different colleges, i.e. the College of Arts and Sciences (for things like english, psychology, biology, etc. - it catches a lot), the College of Engineering, the College of Law, etc.

So Colleges and Universities are not exactly separate, you get your degree from a College within a Unviersity. Probably why in America we say we're going to College, not to University.

Does that make sense?

PS: You may be thinking of Community Colleges (again, not sure how this works in Canada) for the more vocational focus. Community colleges offer 2 year Associates Degrees for more vocational areas, and are also used for people to get a feel for higher education before transfering to a University for a four year degree.

[slemslempike.livejournal.com]

No - Canada is different from the US! I roughly knew about the US system, but Canada I don't know anything about at all.

[pisica.livejournal.com]

Canada is different from the US!

True, that. :)

Unfortunately I don't know about Canada either. In this particular respect, I mean. Pointless comment ending in three, two....

[demiurgician.livejournal.com]

Darn, and here I was thinking I knew things! I'm curious now, too...

[offensive-mango.livejournal.com]

That's not how it works in all cases, though. My US college was simply a college (not a university and definitely not a community college) because 1. it had a liberal arts curriculum and 2. it didn't offer postgraduate degrees (though since it has started offering a Masters in accounting).

[listersgirl]

Colleges are generally vocational/applied (diploma or certificate granting) or university prep, for people who need to improve their grades/take some required courses before embarking on a degree program at a university. As far as I know, colleges cannot grant degrees (except for a few that are able to grant "applied degrees").

Universities, on the other hand, are academic focused and degree granting (either just bachelor or bachelor, masters, doctoral).

There are also University Colleges, but for a footnote you probably don't need to know about them. :)

[listersgirl]

As a side note, I interviewed for a job at Oberlin College in the States, and I kept calling it "Oberlin University" because it was a degree-granting institution. My interviewer corrected me very politely, and then we spent a bunch of time talking about the differences between Canada and the States.

[slemslempike.livejournal.com]

Ah, that's just what I needed to know, thank you!