Most colleges in the United States put great emphasis on the liberal arts education, meaning there are ample opportunities for students to explore a broad range of academic interests regardless of their major.
In addition, there are many opportunities for institutional scholarships and financial assistance for international undergraduate students. Such sources of funding for undergraduates are much rarer in the United Kingdom, Canada or Australia.
Generally speaking, colleges in the United States can be sorted into two main groups:
Instead of enrolling at a 4-year college from the beginning, a student might opt to spend 2 years at a community college, then transfer to a 4-year college to complete a bachelor's degree. However, this guide is only concerned with 4-year colleges.
Within 4-year colleges in the United States, there are three main groups:
Great distinctions exist among these three groups of 4-year colleges. More details are covered here, here and here.
In the United States, there are over 1800 four-year universities and colleges. If 8 out of over 120 universities in the United Kingdom are deemed "excellent," then there should be at least 100 excellent institutions in the United States. Click here for some tips on selecting the "right" school. Some rankings of universities and colleges can be found here.
Some notable schools by category is found below. The list is not exhaustive. Click on each category to view the corresponding list.
A liberal arts curriculum emphasizes communication, critical thinking and problem-solving skills, not specific knowledge.
Students are required to explore a broad range of academic disciplines – including mathematics, natural and social sciences, humanities and foreign languages – in addition to their major. The desired outcome is that all students would be able to understand complexities of the world through multiple lenses, as well as counter any unfamiliar problem by seeking new knowledge.
However, contrary to what the name "liberal arts" might suggest, students need not necessarily focus on the arts and humanities. In fact, they are free to choose mathematics or natural sciences to study in-depth.
This approach to university education is embraced by most institutions of higher education in the United States, even tech-focused schools such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology. However, general education requirements differ from college to college.
While many universities and colleges in Singapore, the United Kingdom and Australia do require their students to complete general education modules, the breadth of available outside-major courses and the number of free electives pale in comparison to universities in the United States. In contrast, students in the United States would need to overload, i.e. taking more than the usual number of classes per semester, in order to cover their major to the same depth.
The liberal arts curriculum often loosely structured, allowing students the flexibility in designing curricula that suit their needs. For example, a student interested in computational finance could build a curriculum focusing around finance and computer science courses, with a few electives in economics as well as advanced mathematics. Due to this, learning can be greatly personalized.
Generally speaking, a college refers to an institution of higher education, while a university refers to an institution of higher education and research.
A college may stand on its own, e.g. Williams College, or may be part of a university, e.g. Bourns College of Engineering is a sub-division of University of California--Riverside.
A university, on the other hand, is often organized into multiple constituent colleges, only some of which teach undergraduates. The undergraduate division of a university is usually organized into a few specialized schools for majors such as business, engineering, etc. and a liberal arts school where the rest of the majors are taught. E.g., The University of Pennsylvania is organized into twelve different colleges, four of which offer bachelor's degree programs, namely School of Arts and Sciences, School of Engineering and Applied Science, Wharton School and School of Nursing.
Nonetheless, "going to college" and "going to university" have the same meaning: receiving undergraduate education.
However, in the United States, there may exist great differences between a stand-alone college and undergraduate colleges that belong to a university.
Note: Sometimes, for historical reasons, a university may maintain the word "College" in its name, or vice versa, e.g. Dartmouth College is a research university, whereas Wesleyan University is a liberal arts college.