What's in a name? Untangling college jargon.

            A new wave of students is about to head off to “institutions of higher learning,” commonly known as colleges. But, technically, those “institutions of higher learning” are not all the same – and, technically, some should not even be called “colleges.”

            Because the language of higher education can be confusing, here’s an explanation of some of the terminology.

            In the United States, college is the general description of an “institution of higher learning” that students attend after graduating from high school in order to earn an associate or bachelor’s degree. It might also refer to an institution offering vocational education.

            A university is different from a college because it is authorized to confer both undergraduate and graduate degrees (master’s, doctorate, etc.).

            State or public colleges and universities are institutions that receive financial subsidies from the state government in an effort to provide affordable tuition. The Iowa Board of Regents, a governing board, oversees Iowa’s three public universities – the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa.

            Iowa’s community colleges are publicly funded two-year institutions that are governed by locally elected boards of directors. Forty years ago, they were commonly called junior colleges, although today that term more often refers to private two-year colleges, rather than publicly funded institutions.

            Private colleges or universities are not operated by the government, but they still can offer affordability.

            “Students at Iowa’s private colleges are eligible for Iowa Tuition Grants, which help with the cost of tuition and do not have to be repaid,” says Tristan Lynn, financial aid director at AIB College of Business in Des Moines.

            Private colleges may be nonprofit or for-profit, and they are legally bound to disclose their status.

            For-profit colleges – also called proprietary colleges –typically are subsidiaries of larger parent companies. They often specialize in career and job-related training. 

            Nonprofits – also called not-for-profits or independent colleges – are not publically owned and do not generate money for shareholders. They are led by staffs that operate under the direction of a Board of Trustees with strong ties to the local community. Each operates independently in serving its unique mission as defined by its founders and its leadership.

            “A student at a private, nonprofit college or university benefits from much lower class sizes and much lower student/faculty ratios,” says Gary Steinke, president of the Iowa Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, which represents 26 colleges and universities in Iowa.

            “This means more individualized attention for the student and, as a result, students are more likely to graduate in four years from a private institution and enter their chosen career or graduate field,” Steinke says.

            According to iowaprivatecolleges.org, 94 percent of Iowa private college students receive financial aid. For those students who also qualify for federal, state and local grants, the total grant aid (which does not have to be paid back) at Iowa private, nonprofit colleges can reach an average of $20,779 per student per year.