University college

The term university college is used in a number of countries to denote institutions that provide tertiary education but do not have full or independent university status. Precise usage varies between countries.

United Kingdom

In the UK, the term university college is used to denote an institution that teaches degree programmes, and may carry out research, but is not recognised as a university. All university colleges must have independent taught degree awarding powers (though some still choose to have their degrees awarded by other institutions). Like "University", the title "University College" is legally protected, and to use it requires government approval. However, it is generally speaking seen as carrying less prestige than "University", and many university colleges are currently (2004) seeking full university status.

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Many well established British universities started out as university colleges, teaching external degrees of the University of London. Examples include the University of Nottingham (which was University College Nottingham when D. H. Lawrence attended it) and the University of Exeter, which until 1955 was the University College of the South West of England. This was the recognised route for establishing new universities in the UK during the first half of the twentieth century.

Related Topics:
University of London - University of Nottingham - D. H. Lawrence - University of Exeter - 1955 - Twentieth century

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A related but slightly different use of the term used to exist in the federal University of Wales; some of its constituent colleges took titles such as "University College Swansea". These colleges were to all intents and purposes independent universities (the federal university's powers being largely restricted to the formal awarding of degrees). In 1996, the University of Wales was reorganised to admit two former higher education institutions and the older members became 'Constituent Institutions' rather than colleges and were renamed along the lines of "University of Wales, Swansea".

Related Topics:
University of Wales - 1996 - University of Wales, Swansea

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Finally, there are several specific UK institutions named "University College", including but not limited to:

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• University College, Oxford is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford; founded in 1249, it claims to be the oldest Oxbridge college.
• University College, Durham is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Durham; founded in 1836, it is the foundation Durham college.
• University College London is the oldest of the constituent colleges of the federal University of London, and one of the largest institutions of higher education in the UK. It is one of the world's leading academic institutions and a member of the super elite g5 group of universities. Like the Welsh universities, it is to all intents and purposes an independent university, but unlike them it appears to have no intention of changing its name.
• Wolfson College, Cambridge was named University College from its foundation in 1965 until its endowment by the Wolfson Foundation in 1972.