A university is a big school where you go to get a degree — maybe even a master’s or PhD. If you’re going to a university, you’re probably on a big campus that also offers housing for students and professors.

Just like the word universe (“the whole world”), university comes from the Latin word universus, meaning "whole, entire." So think of a university as being sort of a world of its own — an institute of higher education where you live and study. A university generally offers advanced degrees and research opportunities in many fields. Sometimes college and university are used to mean the same thing, but colleges are typically smaller and more limited in scope than universities.