Hi everyone

This question must seem silly but I hear you guys in the USA always talk about college and I have no idea what it is because in Australia we go from primary school to high school thats about it unless you go to TAFE (which might be college for you guys). TAFE is sort of like a lower version of Universty where you study things like the trades (brick layer, plumber etc) and Info Tech (more "hands on" the universty) where university is i guess just like what you guys have over there.

Anyways thanks in advance for any help.

Cheers Marc

Ok, to Americans college is just another word for university...usually. Although, it gets confusing because Universities have a college of business, college of science, college of architecture, etc. This use of "college" is the discipline in which students major, or seek a degree. In general use, if someone tells you they're in "college" it usually means that they are in a 4 year or 2 year undergraduate program. There are vocational schools that teach more specific skills, but they are not usually called colleges.

Now, I'm going to confuse you. There are some schools, like The College of William & Mary or Spring Hill College, that are identical to universities. The only difference is that the name is college instead of university. They offer 4 year undergraduate degrees and graduate programs as well. Confused yet?

There are some variations on this, but the general breakdown in the US is:
Elementary School (grades 1-5) ages 6-10.
Junior High School (grades 6-8) ages 11-13.
High School is (grades 9-12) ages 14-18.
Undergraduate (college/university) or 2 year programs like those offered at community colleges.
Postgraduate (masters, doctorate, etc.) follows an undergraduate degree. Medical and law school are 2 you'll hear a lot and these are doctorate degrees.

It would seem we've confused the rest of the English speaking world...again. Hope this clears things up for you.

The simple answer is that what you call going to university we call going to college. Even if the institution is a university. We use the word ‘college’ to refer to both colleges and universities. Generally it is the same thing. Usually an institution is a university if it has one or more separate graduate schools in addition to the undergraduate school(s). If it has a law school it is definitely a university although there are some law schools and other graduate schools that are not affiliated with a university. Confused yet? It gets worse. For example, Boston College is actually a university, as it has a law school and several grad schools.

The lower grades are also messed up. When I was growing up they had elementary school (grades 1-6), junior high school (7-8) and high school (9-12). Today elementary school goes until grade 5, middle school is grades 6-8, and high school is 9-12 after which you get a high school diploma.

Some states require some sort of standardized tests before graduation while others do not. In New York State they have ‘regular’ high school diplomas and ‘Regents’ diplomas. I am not sure exactly what the difference is (anyone from NY?) but I assume Regents is like an honors diploma or something. Education is controlled at the state and local levels so there are 50 different educational systems in the US and within each state there are also local differences.

One thing I never understood about the British system is O levels and A levels. What does that mean? We just get a diploma (except maybe in NY). If you go to college you are rated on how well you did in high school and which classes you took. You also have to take a national standardized test to get into college/university. You are admitted to college based on this test score plus high school grades and activities.

What you refer to as TAFE is similar to a vocational school in the US. Unlike Europe or I assume Australia, the government does not dole out apprenticeships. These schools are private institutions. You can choose which school you want to go to but you also have to pay for it. Loans are available but in the end you paying for it. Another way of getting into a trade is through a labor union. They often sponsor training programs. It is sometimes possible to take training courses in high school but this varies from state to state. A lot of people learn a trade in the military as well.

Our system of trade schools is not as good as in some other countries. The work they do is just as good but unfortunately it is just not as respected to get a trade school education as it is to get a BA or BS or higher. As a result a lot of people end up going to college/university when they would be better off learning to work with their hands.