Accreditation

• Just like accredited universities, technical colleges can be accredited, as well. Understanding what accreditation means is an important step in selecting a post-secondary school, whether you are choosing university or technical school.
  
  Accreditation, in the simplest terms, means that an agency that oversees post-secondary schools, or, in the case of technical colleges, is actively involved with a profession, has vetted the university or technical school's curriculum, instructors and facility in order to ascertain that the institution is offering a sound education.
  
  When a post-secondary school is accredited, that tells other schools and potential employers that graduates from the institution have been adequately prepared for continuing educational endeavors and/or careers in fields that the institution offers coursework in.
  
  

Programs

• The line between accredited universities and technical colleges has begun to blur. Historically, universities offered liberal arts programs, with courses that focused on subjects, but not specific careers. Technical colleges, on the other hand, offered the opposite; career-driven and meant to teach skills in specific trades.
  
  Now, many universities offer career-track programs, such as nursing, while technical colleges offer liberal arts-type programs such as computer science.
  
  

Courses

• The courses that make up programs of study at universities and technical colleges still differ more than mesh.
  
  For example, a university may offer a four year program in nursing that will require extensive liberal arts coursework in addition to nursing curriculum, while a technical college will offer a two-year degree in nursing that requires much less coursework outside of nursing.
  
  

Careers

• The biggest difference between universities and technical colleges remains that while universities offer educational programs in specific fields that guide students toward a career, technical colleges offer programs that give students hands-on training in the actual skills needed to work in certain trades. For that reason, technical colleges are inherently more career driven.
  
  

Degrees

• Most accredited universities and technical colleges confer degrees to student who complete a outlined series of courses. The degrees, themselves, however, are different.
  
  Accredited universities offer associate's degrees for the equivalent of two years of coursework, and bachelor's degrees for the equivalent of four years.
  
  Technical colleges, on the other hand, often offer both degree programs, which allow students to achieve an associate's, or, in some cases, a bachelor's degree, but will also offer diploma and certificate programs. Typically, diploma and certificate programs offer coursework that prepares students for a specific trade with little other general education requirements, while degree programs add more general education requirements.