what is the difference between an university and a college?

Answer 1

Today, they are used more or less interchangably in the U.S. According to dictionary.com, a university represents the highest level possible of education.

col‧lege  /ˈkɒlɪdʒ/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[kol-ij] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1.an institution of higher learning, esp. one providing a general or liberal arts education rather than technical or professional training. Compare university.
2.a constituent unit of a university, furnishing courses of instruction in the liberal arts and sciences, usually leading to a bachelor's degree.
3.an institution for vocational, technical, or professional instruction, as in medicine, pharmacy, agriculture, or music, often a part of a university.
4.an endowed, self-governing association of scholars incorporated within a university, as at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge in England.
5.a similar corporation outside a university.
6.the building or buildings occupied by an institution of higher education.
7.the administrators, faculty, and students of a college.
8.(in Britain and Canada) a private secondary school.
9.an organized association of persons having certain powers and rights, and performing certain duties or engaged in a particular pursuit: The electoral college formally selects the president.
10.a company; assemblage.
11.Also called collegium. a body of clergy living together on a foundation for religious service or similar activity.
12.British Slang. a prison.

u‧ni‧ver‧si‧ty  /ˌyunəˈvɜrsɪti/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[yoo-nuh-vur-si-tee] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun, plural -ties.
an institution of learning of the highest level, having a college of liberal arts and a program of graduate studies together with several professional schools, as of theology, law, medicine, and engineering, and authorized to confer both undergraduate and graduate degrees. Continental European universities usually have only graduate or professional schools.

Answer 2

A whole bunch of departments put together make up a college. Departments range in titles from the Department of Math to the Department of English. A college can stand by itself, or it can be one part of a larger university. So one university might have several colleges within in it.

To make things more confusing, the terms colleges and schools can be used interchangebly. Colleges or schools within a university will have titles like the School of Pharmacy, the College of Sciences, or the School of Engineering. The School of Engineering might be divided into the Department of Electrical Engineering or the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

If you want a simpler answer, universities are usually larger than colleges and offer a more diverse field of study.