college

upright=1.35|thumb| Corpus Christi College, Cambridge|Corpus Christi College, one of the constituent [[colleges of the University of Cambridge in England ]] thumb| Williams College in Williamstown, [[Massachusetts, one of the oldest liberal arts colleges in the United States]] thumb|Seinäjoki College in [[Seinäjoki, South Ostrobothnia, Finland, in May 2018]] A college (Latin: collegium) may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary school.

In most of the world, a college may be a high school or secondary school, a college of further education, a training institution that awards trade qualifications, a higher-education provider that does not have university status (often without its own degree-awarding powers), or a constituent part of a university. In the United States, a college may offer undergraduate programs – either as an independent institution or as the undergraduate program of a university – or it may be a residential college of a university or a community college, referring to (primarily public) higher-education institution that aim to provide affordable and accessible education, usually limited to two-year associate degrees. The word "college" is also commonly used as a synonym for a university in the United States, and in phrases such as "college students" or "going to college" it is understood to mean any degree granting institution, whether denominated a school, an institute, a college, or a university.