Is there a difference between a “college” and a “university” when it comes to schools or hospitals? Consumers need to know.

Names have power, and, for some, portend prospects in terms of careers and personal prestige, and that's why we handpick names for our children. However, along with the question of prestige comes business marketing considerations and the allure of a name. Apparently, we are experiencing a surge of name changes in terms of colleges and healthcare/hospitals outside of education.

Educational marketing is as simple as analyzing prospective students' minds and calculating whether they would prefer to attend a "college" or a "university." The latter represented a much larger institution that encompassed multiple colleges within its fold. However, changes in using the term “university” have enabled colleges, small and large, to reinvent themselves as universities with no multiple colleges.

Despite common usage, college and university do not mean the same thing. Although they are similar in that they both lead to bachelor’s and associate’s degrees, there are important distinctions between the two.

Typically, colleges have a more manageable student body and may have a more narrow academic emphasis. There are usually fewer students and smaller class sizes compared to universities. Regarding gender, race, and ethnicity, certain universities cater more than others.

Colleges award associate's and bachelor’s degrees, but universities offer bachelor’s, master’s, and usually doctoral degrees as well. Even though colleges do research on occasion, most universities primarily function as research organizations, e.g., Rockefeller University.

The Struggle for Admissions and Patients

The emphasis on changing a college's name is more of an attempt at attracting more students as admissions decrease than changing the curriculum. In fact, some schools anticipate a name change will attract more students as their admissions have decreased, leading to cutbacks in curricula in economic terms.

Sometimes, the name change serves a variety of other purposes, such as removing undesirable individuals' names or broadening the appeal of the school, in the instance of a school that was originally intended only for female students. State law changes regarding schools that receive state funding may also require a school's name change.

Major universities have had to protect their school's names and outline what is permissible and not in the face of increasing school name changes.

But it's not only universities that seek to protect their names from use by unaffiliated entities. I know of one medical practice that changed its name to include that of a prestigious medical center in a major US city. Someone alerted the medical center to this, and the practice changed its name back to that of the practitioner.

How could this have happened without attempting to seek either affiliation with the medical center or approval of the use of that name through a licensing agreement? That will remain a question in perpetuity.

Significant hospitals now change their names to include the word university in that appellation. One has to wonder what affiliation they have with the university or if the term "university" is now a generic that any hospital that wishes to do so may use.

An “academic medical center” no longer means the same thing as a hospital and a medical school. Is the erroneous notion that the hospital is associated with a medical school or university still a factor in the decision to include the word "university" in its name, or does the hospital maintain a connection for the purpose of training interns or residents, allowing them to do so?

Many schools are wary of taking on the financial burden of owning a hospital. Not all universities have their own hospitals; for instance, not all schools affiliated with Georgetown, Harvard, Vanderbilt, and the University of Maryland have medical centers.

Loosening of Terms

Words have power and strengthen beliefs in an establishment's ethics and experience in terms of treatment, especially in healthcare. One word that has filtered into the healthcare system is "institute."

What is your understanding of an institute? I would offer that you may think it is a place of higher learning, educated personnel, or specific qualifications that are not found in practices that are not institutes. You would be wrong.

There appears to be no legal constraints on the use of the word, but it is, as I said, usually thought to be a place of special learning, education or research. However, the name can be meaningless in all three areas and only used for marketing. One term that is legally controlled is “psychologist.” You must be licensed to call yourself a psychologist

I knew of a large therapy practice with multiple locations that grossed millions a year and called itself an “institute.” Most of the therapists had social work degrees, and no research was ever initiated.

Owing to the casualness with which some terms are being used in practice, consumers are advised to inform themselves, either directly to the practice or via searching on the Internet, as to the education and licensing of individuals in that practice.

Advertisements on websites and often in local newspapers do not provide the required information. An advertisement's size can also be seen as an attempt to provide assumed expertise or influence consumers. In this instance, as in so many others, size is not important.

One thing that is strictly prohibited by professional organizations and licensing boards is for anyone to say that they "guarantee" success in treating any psychological disorder. There is no such thing as "a guarantee." Anyone guaranteeing it can be brought up on charges to the licensing board in that state. That is, of course, unless the state has no requirements on this. States can make specific requirements regarding all professional activities, and it is wise to be well-informed.

I once heard of an instance where a couple brought their son to a psychiatrist who guaranteed he would be successful in eliminating the son's aberrant sexual behavior. His fee for the service was $10,000, which the couple paid, and the therapy began. The son continued to take part in this activity, and when the parents asked the psychiatrist, the psychiatrist admitted, "This was my first case."

The bottom line must always be: Let the buyer beware. Always do your homework, be up on the legal ramifications of anything, and ask for trustworthy referrals and licensing certification for anyone in any facility, including hospitals, therapy practices, colleges, and universities.