What is a "college" in Spanish?
I am a professor at a Community College. I'm not sure where I work. Collegio has the connotation of secondary rather than post secondary eduction. Universidád has the connotation of a four year institution with multiple schools. In Puerto Rico the word universitario is used for the regional campuses of of UPR. Is there a word in Spanish with a connotation that I am looking for?
TIA
Jim
8 Answers
Keep it simple and just say that you are a professor who works at "una universidad municipal" or "un instituto público de formación profesional" because the higher education system in the U.S. is different from other countries. As a result, there is no fixed term in Spanish to say "community college."
Universidad o Instituto tecnico o vocacional might work.
Jim said:
Universidád has the connotation of a four year institution with multiple schools.
I don't think that's true. I would use the word "universidad" for a 2-year community college as well.
You might wish to research the term escuela superior since it seems to be beyond high school, but less than college.
community college
sustantivo
- (in US) Establecimiento donde se imparten cursos de nivel terciario de dos años de duración.
in spanish community college is what in Southamerica is call Terciario, it is after the secundario (highschool) but it less that University. Now, here there is a difference between community college and university college in spanish those will be Terciario and Universidad.
Now the literal translation for college is Colegio, but colegio in Spanish is refer to those high school and elementary school that are private.
So you will be a Profesor Terciario or Profesor de Escuela superior (depending how the call to the carreer you are teaching)
I would think that universidad would apply, too, since it is still the level after high school.
n collage
I just realized this question before, since I know one elementry school in Mexico, but the official name is . Usually, meant High School because I look it up in the Spanish-English Dictionary...