Colloquial usage

Colloquially, the term university may be used to describe a phase in one's life: "when I was at university..."; in the United States, college is often used: "when I was in college...". In Australia, and New Zealand "university" is often contracted to "uni", which has also recently become common among the young in the United Kingdom. In New Zealand and in South Africa it is sometimes called "varsity", which was also common usage in the U.K. in the 19th century.

The usual practice in the United States today is to call an institution made up of several faculties and granting a range of higher degrees a "university", while a smaller institution only granting bachelor's or associate's degrees is called a "college". Nevertheless, a few of America's older universities, such as Boston College, Dartmouth College, and the College of William and Mary, have retained the term "college" in their names for historical reasons, even though they offer a wide range of higher degrees.

On the other hand, many smaller colleges now call themselves "universities," regardless of their limited programs and degree offerings. For institutions in the United States, the Carnegie classification system distinguishes institutions on the basis of the prevalence of degrees they grant.