College, University or Institute?

Present Tense

1.       Americans use the term "college students" to mean students either in colleges or universities

2.        they say "going off to college" and "when I was in college

3.       We answer that this week in part three of our Foreign Student Series on American higher education.

4.       They offer more programs and do more research.

5.       M.I.T. says that seventy-five percent of freshmen come there with a strong interest and involvement in the arts.

Past Tense

1.       The word "university" came from the Latin universitas, describing a group of people organized for a common purpose.

2.       "College" came from collegium

3.       colleges were formed to provide students with places to live

4.       So college came to mean an area of study.

5.       The first American universities divided their studies into a number of areas and called each one a college