University Education vs. College Education

Comparison and Contrast
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University Education vs. College Education
At a certain point in life, every student must face the dilemma of whether to join a college or university. The decision can be extremely stressful and exhausting, and this coupled with pressures from parents who try to enforce their preferences on students, can drive students to making wrongful decisions about their career lives. Therefore, as a student, it is necessary to take a moment identify personal capabilities and future career expectations. College education and university education both offer social interaction and a variety of teaching methods. However, the two institutions are different in many ways and the decision to join either a college or a university will determine the outcome of career path of a student. When making a decision to join either a college or university, it is appropriate to consider factors such as the cost, academic qualification, class size and quality of learning, social interactions and activities, which a student can analyze to determine the best opportunity for him/her.
College education system enhances the quality and value of education more than university education system. This is because there are few students per class in a college system while, in the university system, the classes are often overcrowded (Mackenzie, 2011). Therefore, interaction between the teacher and students is efficient since the professors have an opportunity to know their students well and consequently, identify their academic capabilities and needs. For students, this creates a favorable learning environment in which they have easy access to their professors thus able to ask questions for a complete understanding. On the contrary, university lecture halls are enormous, intimidating and can be impersonal due to overcrowding. It is also hard for students to have access their professors for further clarifications. In addition, instructors at colleges have a lot of time on their hands and so they teach properly by simplifying complicated topics for better understanding by students. However, professors at universities are busy with personal work, and the number of students does not allow them a lot of extra time. For that reason, they rush over the classes and leave complicated terms unexplained, which leaves students with an incomplete understanding. Hence, the university system does not present an excellent opportunity for slow learners and students wishing for a more hands on learning with the teachers.
Academic qualifications widely vary in colleges and universities from the entry points to the final qualifications. For instance, it is easier to join colleges because they require lower GPA for admissions than universities, which require a higher GPA for admissions depending on the course of interest. Pursuing a course in university normally takes 4 years or more, and the final academic qualification is a degree, for example, BA or BSc (Barbara, 2010). Colleges can only offer certificate or diplomas as the final academic qualification, and their program takes 2 years or below (USA Colleges, 2011). Therefore, as a student it is necessary to know how long one is willing to study and the preferred qualification. However, a student can start studying at a college and then transfer the program to a ...