There is really no excuse for Quartz, an American-based publication, to use “university” rather than “college” in this headline. For one thing, “university” is three words letters longer.
There is really no excuse for Quartz, an American-based publication, to use “university” rather than “college” in this headline. For one thing, “university” is three words letters longer.
notoneoffbritishisms.com 
To quote the NYT of late (!), that’s a shambolic argument to put forth: a real Britishism would be “uni” — the same number of “words” as “college” and four keystrokes less.
Is there some confusion here between “words” (both equal, at one) — and syllables (er – not quiite sure – but I always thought college has two and university, ho hum… five??)
Maybe I just misread the punchline…
Confusing “College” and “University” seems to be an Americanism.
Well, if that were the case, then the Americans would seem to share a trait with the Brits omitting the article as in “go to hospital”. Wouldn’t it be more correct to say “go to a college” since that is one constituent of a university?
“College” in the UK is just that: a college. And it is preceded by the article ‘a’ or ‘the’.
No, they “go to college”, just as they “go to school”. In the past they used to “go to tech”. In many cases, “college” is a replacement for school sixth forms. In other cases, it can be a specialised institution.
Thank you. I think two things might be at play here: I’m a Brit that’s lived abroad for a long time and am beginning to forget which version of English is which, but also would ask whether or not, were I to attend (say) Oxbridge, then wouldn’t I go to ‘a’ college at university?
Yes, you would go to “a” college as a constituent part of the university but you’d probably use the name of the college and assume that people knew which one it was part of, or use the name of the university. For example, in London, people might go to “Imperial” and assume that everybody knows its location! “College” has become a very vague term. You can find places teaching anything outside the regular educational system calling themselves “college” or “academy”, as well as sixth form colleges and technical colleges. A lot of the old “College of Technology” places are now universities in their own right.
Thanks for taking the time, Steve!