Is it true that colleges only offer undergraduate degrees while universities also offer graduate degrees?

College degrees

It is very incorrect to assume that only universities offer graduate degrees. Dartmouth College, an ivy league school, offers several PhDs. The college (not university) I attend also offers several master's degrees. The main difference between colleges and universities is that a university is made up of several different colleges. Often, you find a college of arts, as well as a college of life sciences within a single university, whereas colleges just have departments. Essentially, the determining factor here is size.

More input from FAQ Farmers:

• I attend the College of William and Mary, which grants several doctoral and master's degrees. However, in the case of W&M and many other institutions (such as Dartmouth College), the "College" part of the name is retained for historical value. Technically...Dartmouth, William & Mary, and several other historically prominent institutions are ACTUALLY universities. In other words, you are correct. The term "university," in the United States, is reserved for institutions that award postgraduate degrees.

• Maybe in Canada only, that universities are different with college. Most countries except Canada (developing or developed countries), colleges offers four (4) year course - Bachelor's Degree. Of course, universities are more prestigious and more expensive. Also, universities offers further studies after Bachelor's Degree like Master's Degrees, Doctorate Degree, and Post Doctorate Degree - These degrees can be achieved if you have earned Bachelor's Degree first. Basically, college are small and faculties (such as lecturers) are more focused to students. They usually focused on few courses (for Bachelor's Degree). In universities, professors handles more students and they most likely can't focused on each students. For your information, universities comprises of colleges with different courses. Colleges internationally maybe small, but some colleges (like in usa and others) have better standards than some universites....

Another answer

There isn't a dime's worth of difference between most colleges and universities, though the latter have that designation because they normally offer a full range of graduate degrees. Many colleges rename themselves "universities" because they want a more imposing name for their institution. Example: a for-profit institution on the East Coast used to be called Strayer College. Overnight they renamed themselves Strayer University, but nothing changed.

First answer by anonymous. Last edit by Ggjacobsen. Contributor trust: 11 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 145 [recommend question]