What is the difference between "escuela" and "colegio"?

Question

I have always known that an institution where children go to study is known as "school", and for older students i.e. more than 18 years of age it is known as "College". The dictionary here has got me confused, how do I distinguish clearly between the two? To translate this sentence - some school backpacks, I wrote, unas mochilas de escuela. But I was corrected saying it is - unas mochilas de colegio. Which is the correct version, or are both these words used equally? Gracias!

Answer 1

When I was in school they used to say that "el colegio" meant "high school" and not "college" or "pre-school" or any of that jazz, and that la escuela was the general purpose "school."

However, apparently, colegio can be used the same way as escuela these days.

Regardless, colegio and escuela are for anyone who is on the path to finishing High School, niether of these terms are actually used to describe what we understand to be "college."

For "college" you use a word like "universidad."

When it comes to backpacks I would assume that what they call "school" backpacks is regional. Doing google searches I see people saying "mochilas escolares" and "Mochilas para el colegio."

These days? "Colegio" and "escuela" meant the same thing 40 years ago, as far as I know. - lazarus1907, Aug 30, 2011

Thanks a ton to both of you! This was very useful! - aaspriha, Aug 30, 2011

Answer 2

Apart from one coming from Latin and the other one from Greek, I don't think there is any difference: both mean school. This could vary from country to country, but in Spain, "instituto" is normally used for secondary school, and there is nothing similar to a college. After the "instituto", you go to the "universidad".

Gracias! Yes, names for educational institutes may vary very much from one country to another. - aaspriha, Aug 30, 2011

Answer 3

The usage in Ecuador is:

escuela = elementary school

colegio = high school

universidad = college or university

escuela posgrado = graduate school

If you use the wrong word when talking to a student, they will correct you.