Universities and institutes are the building blocks of all communities. Together they comprise all the education platforms as well as office buildings. However, often institute and universities are confused to be the same, which does not hold in the literary sense.
Institute vs University
The main difference between institute and university is that universities are solely dedicated to higher educational purposes whereas institutes can comprise of an educational organization dedicated to any purpose including business, media, fashion, etc.
Another difference between institute and university is that education in an institute is focused on acquiring a specialization on industry-related topics whereas a university focuses on research-oriented studying. Universities are for graduate and post-graduate courses whereas institutes mostly offer diploma or specialization courses.
Universities often have affiliated colleges under its belt whereas institutes may have their franchise offering their courses in different places but cannot provide degrees to students in affiliated colleges. Institutes may also include schools that provide education to children such as primary and secondary or higher secondary schools.
Comparison Table Between Institute and University
| Parameter of Comparison | Institute | University |
|---|---|---|
| Courses Offered | Industry-oriented | Research-oriented |
| Autonomy | Semi-autonomous | Autonomous |
| Governing Body | Board of Directors | University council |
| Funding | Does not receive large funds and most of the management money comes from tuition fees | Receives a large sum of money from the government because of the complexity of the types of equipment needed for research work. |
| Population | Less number of students and teachers because of the limited number of course options. | A large number of students, lecturers, professors, and researchers and a varied number of courses to choose from. |
What is Institute?
In theory, an Institute can refer to any organizational body in the society that was created with a purpose in mind. It can range from anything as small as a nuclear family to as big as a business franchise and everything in between.
However, lately, institutes are mostly regarded as educational forums that are related to either educational or research purposes. An institute can be governmental or non-governmental and are lead by a board of directors who take charge of the management and decisions of all matter. These institutes are semi-autonomous.
The word Institute was coined from the Latin term “institutum” which means facility or habit. An institute is part of the organizational structures of society and looking at the functioning of an institute can help understand the functioning of the society itself.
An institute can be regarded as academic if it deals with offering degrees or conducts research-oriented work. However, institutes are used to refer to those organizations that run autonomously and provide undergraduate or graduate degrees or offers diplomas and specializations in certain fields.
Institutes have a limited number of employees and students and have a limited number of courses to offer. They also called academic institutes when dealing with a purely educational purpose. However, examples of some other forms of the institute are hospital or health care institute, military or paramilitary, corporate institute, etc.
What is University?
The word university has its roots in the Latin word “Universitas magistrorum et scholarium” which has the literal meaning of:
an organization of teachers and scholars
Such derivation is conceivable given that University is solely meant for higher education and research purposes.
The origins are rooted in the medieval guilds that were organizations of teachers and students that were permitted by the princes and prelates. The world’s first University is however noted to be The University of Bologna which is perched in the Bologna, Italy.
As academic freedom increased worldwide, the university started growing in every country of the world. These Universities are mostly operated by Governments and are run by their funding with very minimum tuition fees charged from the students.
A university offers higher education such as Postgraduate degrees or diplomas and has the facilities to carry out complicated researches and recruit scholars. They are not limited to one or two subjects but a huge number of courses and subjects are constantly added under their umbrella. Due to such a vast number of courses, they also recruit a great number of employees to keep the organization running.
Main Differences Between Institute and University
- The main difference between institute and university is that a university is solely dedicated to higher educational purposes whereas an institute can comprise of an educational organization dedicated to any purpose including business, media, fashion, etc.
- Another difference between institute and university is that education in institutes is focused on acquiring a specialization on industry-related topics whereas universities focus on research-oriented studying.
- Universities are for graduate courses, post-graduate courses, and conduction of research whereas institutes mostly offer diploma or specialization courses.
- A University often has affiliated colleges under its belt whereas institute may have their franchise offering their courses in different places but cannot provide degrees to students in affiliated colleges.
- The word Institute was coined from the Latin term “institutum” which means facility or habit whereas the word university is derived from the Latin word “Universitas magistrorum et scholarium” meaning “an organization of teachers and scholars”.
Conclusion
Although the term institute theoretically includes university, these two are often deemed as the same. However, the Institute and University have many differences in the practical world. Such as Universities are for graduate courses, post-graduate courses, and conduction of research whereas institutes mostly offer diploma or specialization courses.
However, the main difference between an institute and university is that a university is solely dedicated to higher educational purposes whereas an institute can comprise of an educational organization dedicated to any purpose including business, media, fashion, etc.
Another difference between institute and university is that education in institutes is focused on acquiring a specialization on industry-related topics whereas universities focus on research-oriented studying. However, institutes are used to refer to those organizations that run autonomously and provide undergraduate or graduate degrees or offers diplomas and specializations in certain fields.
Institutes have a limited number of employees and students and have a limited number of courses to offer whereas universities offer a huge number of courses and also recruit a great number of employees to keep the organization running.