Quote:
Originally Posted by tuigirl
Errr...is high school and college not the same thing? I'm sure it was when I went.
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In the U.S., "high school" is the term that refers to the final three (or sometimes four) years of compulsory schooling.
The terms "college" & "university" -- both referring to noncompulsory schooling that follows high school -- are often used interchangeably in the U.S. in conversation, although whereas "university" pertains almost always to four-year degree (B.A., B.S.) & (what we call) graduate school (M.A., M.S., Ph.D.), "college" is also used to refer to two-year degree schooling (A.A.), so-called "junior colleges," & university prep as well as vocational school.
Sometimes you see the name "college" used in titles of law schools & medical schools, & the term is also used academically within universities as titles of departments or other broad classifications: for example, U.C. Irvine's College of Music.