When you go through the Internet sites promoting institutions for online education - and even in accrediting agency sites – the words “colleges” and “universities” are used loosely and interchangeably such that the distinctions are not so much the emphasis as what each can offer you. In fact, in most sites, online colleges and universities are classified together as institutions of higher learning that provides online degrees. In the traditional setting of course universities and colleges are differentiated based on the established guidelines of the government and the education boards.

The Carnegie Classification, developed by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education has also developed a system to analyze institutional differences of colleges and universities and is also being used by online schools. Since most physical universities and colleges do offer online degrees and online education, such differences as defined by the Carnegie Classification can also be considered when choosing an online school.

A university in the traditional realm constitutes of an undergraduate level for conferring bachelor’s degrees, a graduate school and a professional school for continuing education and higher learning. It may also be composed of several colleges or schools and can offer a wide range of degrees and programs. The University of Phoenix in Arizona for instance, provides over 30 online programs from undergraduate to post graduate and continuing education courses. In Toowoomba, Australia the University of Southern Queensland offers a wide range of undergraduate and post-graduate degrees in the fields of Surveying, Business, Education and other sciences.

A college can also be sometimes considered a university but is generally classified as an institution of higher learning that provides undergraduate or Associate and Bachelor’s degrees in sciences and/or liberal arts (postsecondary education). In modern definitions, a college is loosely used to refer to smaller institutions that offer “preparatory” courses to higher degrees that can be pursued in universities (e.g. graduate and post-graduate studies). Some schools which are already universities have opted to retain the word “college” in their names such as Dartmouth College and Boston College, even though they already offer a wider degree of higher education programs. On the other hand there are colleges that have the “university” in their names but are basically specialized higher learning institutions that only offer undergraduate programs. Some examples of online colleges would be Ashworth College in Norcross Georgia which offers Associate degrees in Accounting, Business Management and Health Care Management. There’s also Penn Foster College in Scottsdale Arizona for Associate of Science degrees in Internet Technologies, Hospitality Management and Paralegal Studies.

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