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What's the difference between "College" and "University"? (feddit.cl)
submitted 3 years ago* by to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml
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Until recently I assume they were synonymous 😅, Here you go to Uni immediatly after finishing HS.

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[–] 15 points 3 years ago (2 children)

In New Zealand a university is a form of higher/tertiary education institution.

A college is a high school that's trying to sound fancy.

The kind of place that the US calls "community college" would be called a "polytech" here.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago (2 children)

    Apparently French works the same way ("university" = tertiary, "college" = high school), at least if Duolingo is to be believed.

    The kind of place that the US calls "community college" would be called a "polytech" here.

    I'm not necessarily doubting you, but I would've guessed "polytech" would be more like a "trade school" (where you go to learn skills for blue-collar jobs, like welding, plumbing, auto repair, etc.) than a "community college" (where you go for two years to earn an associates' degree in stuff like liberal arts or business or nursing, possibly before transferring somewhere else to continue towards your bachelors').

    (That's despite the fact that "polytech" around here can also refer to four-year engineering schools, although ones that are lower-tier than research universities. For example, the former "Southern Polytechnic State University" ("Southern Poly") vs. "Georgia Institute of Technology" ("Georgia Tech") here in GA. Ironically, the latter is self-deprecatingly nicknamed "North Avenue Trade School," LOL!)

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  • [–] 2 points 3 years ago* (last edited 3 years ago)

    I’m not necessarily doubting you, but I would’ve guessed “polytech” would be more like a “trade school”

    That's how they started out. But in New Zealand there are only 8 universities.

    Polytechs nowadays still offer trades vocational but they also offer other qualifications in things like nursing or business management. Here is the wikipedia for one of the biggest ones, you can get an idea of the scope: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitec_Institute_of_Technology

    (Fun fact: there used to be 7 universities but one tech managed to transform itself so now the city of Auckland has University of Auckland and also "Auckland University of Technology")

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