University vs College | 10 British vs American English Differences

Do you want to study at a British university or an American college? If so, you will need to know the difference between these 10 British English and American English words. We look at 10 words that you will use all the time at university and college. Learn them now so that when you study abroad you will be better prepared.

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Camera: Canon G7X
Editing Software: Final Cut Pro X

[mosaicmatt]

We also use the term “University“ here in the states, but the primary difference between whether or not an institution of higher learning is referred to as a college versus university is that a “college“ only offers an undergraduate degree, whereas, a “university” will likely also offer a Masters level or doctorate level degree as well.

[marquesdevalera]

Good overview of the differences in American and English. It is important to note that American higher education has both Colleges and Universities and such school are specific standards governed by state and federal laws, ie student size, faculty size, types of majors, etc.... Also some universities are made up of colleges or schools, such as Harvard University has a College of Liberal Arts and. Medical School, Pepperdine University as a College of Fine Arts and College of Law., etc.... Generally speaking colleges are smaller and have fewer majors of study. Also quizzes and tests are given throughout the Semester while major tests are called exams, usually divided into mid-term exams and final exams Thus although the courses are divided into semesters or trimesters the word term is still used to differentiate mid-semester exams from the final concluding the course. Also classes or courses can also be divided into lectures and labs for hands on study or experimentation for sciences, eg chemistry, biology, physics, etc... Seminars in American colleges or universities are compressed classes that last for a single session or a few sessions as opposed to the more lengthy study of 12-15 weeks of attendance. Also each year of attendance has its own name Freshman (1st year), Sophomore (2nd year), Junior (3rd year) and Senior (4th year) after graduation further study makes people post-graduate or post-grad students and doctoral candidates if pursuing a doctorate. Post-grads, medical and law students are designated as 1, 2, 3rd year etc Lastly the services academies which are four year colleges that educate military and naval officers have students called either cadets (US Air Force Academy, US Coast Guard Academy & US Military Academy at West Point) or midshipmen (US Merchant Marine Academy & US Naval Academy). First year officer trainees are called 4th classmen (Freshmen) while Seniors are designated 1st classmen. Graduate studies for military and naval officers are in colleges, eg Military War College, Naval War College, etc.... Hope this helps to clarify some of the differences in how higher education works in the USA.

[colleen]

The one I disagree with is "test" vs. "exam". In the US we do not use the word "test" for the big exam at the end of the semester at a college level. We call it "exams" like you, or quite often "finals" as in a "final exam". "Test" to me has very high school or grade school connotations. Even in high school we use "mid-terms" or "finals" for the heavily weighted exams-- otherwise it's a test or a quiz.

[gabrielafernandez]

Tom, It ' s the perfect I' m teaching now. It ' s 2 PM here in Argentina and my students are watching your video!! Thanks so much!!!

[jennellejohnson]

A couple things, in America we have colleges, which are typically smaller, and universities, which are larger. We do usually call them colleges in conversation, but not always.
As someone else said, we do call them gap years, but most never do.
We take tests during the year, and Final exams at the end, sometimes we call them final exams sometimes just finals (like when we talk about finals week).
We do have seminars, they are usually near the end of a degree program, and very specialized. I had to take 2 for my zoology degree.

[marthaanderson]

to my knowledge there is no word or phrase for a Gap Year. You might hear someone say Gap Year and I think it is borrowed because there is no given term. It is no "tradition" to do a gap year in the US. You go on to school, go into the work force or, perhaps, join the military service. Tests are usually exams given along the way, Final Exam, or "finals" is a comprehensive exam, usually covering the whole course. Finals often have more score percent weight.

Thanks for the video, some new information for me.

[jacksoncarine]

People say gap year in America too, we also say exam and essay, lecture, take an exam

[romantressler]

School in the US Is just a general term for a place where we learn.

We use Essay as well.... we use it all the time...a paper is like something more than 2 pages usually or more than 5 paragraphs

[peabody]

We usually go just from high school to college/university. We don't have a gap year.

One thing about "college" versus "university". The colloquial is almost always "college", even if the institution has the word "university".

The word "class" is the umbrella term for both lectures and seminars, and each class specifies which is which.

A "test" is a quick exam at university level, but an "exam" is more important. The final exam is always "exam" in US English.

Thanks, Tom!

[stephrocks]

I don't know what a specific word for a gap year would be.. I usually hear it as "taking a year off."

"Exam" would be "final" or "finals."

[CB-eniq]

In the US, we use "term" also but usually add a season for it. Some colleges have 4 terms (spring, summer, fall, winter) and others have 2, which are the ones we usually refer to as semesters (fall & spring).

[virginialynn]

We don’t have a term for phrase for “Gap year” in America. People usually just say “I’m taking a year off before starting college to...”

Another note: In America we turn in “papers” instead of “essays”...but I remember calling them essays in grade school through middle school. It’s as if essays are the younger version of papers. Once you got to high school and college the requirements as far as length and content was much higher... and That’s when they became papers. An essay is more like a page or less of writing for us.

[jodydiou]

I'm going to be going to The University of Southern Maine. I'm going to Major in Psychology and Minor in Holistic Health. You take tests though out the year and have mid-terms and final exams. There are 2 major terms or semester. Fall semester is from the end of August to December and Spring semester is January to May. Then you can take a summer course or class, but most students take the summer off.

[jadecoloredglasses]

Generally in US English we refer to end of year tests as “final exams” and often shorten it down to “finals.” Example: I’ve been studying for finals all week. I hope I’m ready for my Chemistry final tomorrow.

[cadengrace]

Not sure where you are getting your Americanisms but you might want to vet the sources better.

Any place of learning in America can be called a school and often is as a general reference.

A college in America comes in two types: 2 year where the degree is an Associate or AS and a 4 year where the degree is a Bachelor or BS.

A university in America offers Associate and Bachelor programs, but what separates it from a college is that it also offers a Master degree or MS and a Doctorate degree or PhD.

As I said before, in general conversation such as, "I am off to school" can be used at any time for any of the institutions. But when American students are asked where they attend they will give the accurate designation as I go to City College or State University. They might also just use the initials of the school where the designation for a university is also ended with a U such as OSU Ohio State University.

There is a fourth type of institution and these tend to be private institutions known only by their name and all of these are Universities. Examples would be MIT - Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cal Tech - California Technical Institute.

[sammir]

We still use the word “term” to refer to a particular time period of the school year. “Semester” is used to specify that the terms are split into 3 (fall, spring, summer). “Quarter” is used when there are 4 terms in a school year (fall, winter, spring, summer). But the use of the word “term” is not uncommon and typically less specific.

[dobypilgrim]

Number one is wrong. I went to the University of Tennessee. A university in America has colleges or schools in it

[shallowgal]

In American English, the phrase for a gap year is. . . a gap year. Even though we have fall & spring semesters (or fall, winter & spring quarters), we often call a research paper written for a course a term paper. Some schools have summer quarters, others have summer semesters, and the rest have summer sessions. We typically take either short quizzes or longer tests during a course, but at the end we have a final exam. Usually, an entire week is set aside as Finals Week, when you take your finals, or final exams.

[luiszelayandia]

In my college, we take classes/courses but they’re also divided up into lectures, and occasionally (for science classes) labs. So there are lectures and labs that are both classes/courses

[BP-oriu]

You forgot to mention that “major” is also a noun. You “major” in a specific “major.” Also, we also say, “I’m studying history” or whatever. Also, our colleges ARE universities unless they’re community colleges which feed into universities but that’s rarely what someone is talking about when they say college. Also, our little “progress tests” throughout the year, are called “quizzes.” Tests are like chapter tests throughout the semester or school year that count for a good bit, and then at the end of the year or semester you have final exams. Though, we just say, “finals”. Rarely will someone say “final exams” but that’s what “finals” is shot for, not “final tests.” We also have “midterms” in the middle of the semester. Also, we have seminars, too. Usually they’re specialized classes and classes in grad school. We also have lecture courses of course, but in my experience in both systems there is WAY more interaction between professors and students in the US lectures. Even if there’s 100 people in there, US universities and professors are huge in class discussions and interaction. There’s also a more personable relationship with the professors in the US, too, in my experience, though obviously when you get into small seminars in Britain I’m sure it’s the same.