Legal Definition and Related Resources of College

A corporation created for the promotion of learning and the support of persons who devote themselves to learning, which possesses the right to confer degrees. Northampton county v Lafayette College, 128 Pa. 132, 18 A. 516.

An organized collection or assemblage of persons; a civil corporation, society, or company, having, in general, some literary object. The assemblage of the cardinals at Rome is called a “college.” The body of presidential electors is called the “electoral college,” although the whole body never come together. An educational institution of the highest class.

Browse or run a search for College in the American Encyclopedia of Law, the Asian Encyclopedia of Law, the European Encyclopedia of Law, the UK Encyclopedia of Law or the Latin American and Spanish Encyclopedia of Law.

College in Historical Law

You might be interested in the historical meaning of this term. Browse or search for College in Historical Law in the Encyclopedia of Law.

Search for legal acronyms and/or abbreviations containing College in the Legal Abbreviations and Acronyms Dictionary.

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Mentioned in these terms

Capital Expenditure, Commons, Judgment, Provost, School.

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This definition of College is based on the The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary . This entry needs to be proofread.

Vocabularies (Semantic Web Information)

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Legal Usage of College in English

An European Commission document offers the following explanation about the misused of College:In the English-speaking world, ‘college’ normally refers to one type of educational establishment or another (university college, Eton College, etc.). It can also be a body of electors (‘electoral college’). In the EU, it is used to mean the actual Court or Commission, as opposed to the institution and its staff. The only context where it is traditionally used in a similar meaning is the ecclesiastical Latinism: ‘the college of cardinals’ (from Collegium Cardinalium). The term ‘college of Commissioners’ has become enshrined in European Union usage, but we should use the word sparingly when referring to other bodies. Especially when it is used in isolation (‘the college’ tout court), readers outside the institutions are unlikely to know what it refers to. In the example below, we can replace the word ‘college’ with ‘Court’ with no loss of meaning.

Example

‘The commitment will be confirmed again in the new building policy, to be adopted by the College before the 2007 summer break43.’

Alternatives

‘the Court’/’the Commission’. If it is necessary to specify beyond doubt that it was the actual Court, we can say ‘the Court itself’ or ‘the Court’s members’ (‘the Members of the Commission’) or even just ‘the Members’ (or the ‘Commissioners’).

Resources

Further Reading

• David Mellinkoff, “Mellinkoff’s Dictionary of American Legal Usage”, West Publishing Company, 1992
• Bryan A. Garner, “A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage”, West Publishing Company, 1995