Collegiate University - Independent and Federated Colleges

Independent and Federated Colleges

See also: Colleges within universities in the United Kingdom

At some universities, the colleges enjoy a significant degree of independence, but the central administration also has an active role in institutional affairs. Often, the binding conditions of federation, affiliation or incorporation outline fixed responsibilities of individual colleges and the university. In some cases, the university may own a part share of the controlling entity.

Independent colleges vary in the level of teaching that they provide, but they may create positions independently from the university and may provide their own funding for research. They also tend to play a large role in deciding admissions. Students become members of the University through membership in their particular college, and matriculation is often done through, or at the behest of, the colleges. At the undergraduate level, independent colleges usually provide most, if not all accommodation and bursaries. They often have their own halls for meals, libraries, sports teams and societies. This fosters loyalty to the college among its students—an undergraduate might state the name of his or her college before the name of the university when asked where he or she studied. This spirit is often maintained through college-based alumni organizations.

The two ancient universities of England, Oxford and Cambridge (collectively termed Oxbridge), are federations of autonomous colleges. The University of Oxford has 38 colleges and 6 Permanent Private Halls, which exist autonomously and run independent, supplementary academic programmes. The university requires all teaching staff and students to be members of one or other of these institutions. The University of Cambridge has 31 colleges, which have a significant role in providing independent supplementary tuition and are governed autonomously. These institutions represent a significant financial interest, having combined fixed assets of approximately £3.4 billion, in contrast to the university's central assets, which total approximately £1.9 billion.

Ireland's only ancient university is the University of Dublin. Created during the reign of Elizabeth I, it is modelled on the collegiate universities of Cambridge and Oxford. However, only one constituent college was ever founded, hence the curious position of Trinity College, Dublin today; although both are usually considered one and the same, the University and College are completely distinct corporate entities with separate and parallel governing structures and functions.

Of the 17 colleges at Durham University, St Chad's College and St John's College and Ushaw College are separately incorporated and independently governed, with their own supplementary academic support and academic staff. All four of Roehampton University's constituent colleges, Whitelands College, Southlands College, Digby Stuart College and Froebel College, are independently owned, although the university holds a number of relevant long-term leases.

In the Americas, the University of Toronto has a collegiate system that took form in the 19th century, modeled after Oxford. The independent colleges include Knox College, Regis College, Wycliffe College, Massey College, St. Michael's College, Trinity College, Emmanuel College and Victoria College. The Claremont Colleges in California operate a hybrid federal-constituent system. All 7 colleges are independently governed: Pomona College, Scripps College, Claremont McKenna College, Harvey Mudd College, Pitzer College as undergraduate colleges as well as Claremont Graduate University and Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences as graduate universities. Their founding model was based on that of the University of Oxford and they are linked through the Claremont University Consortium, though, unlike other constituent college systems, degrees are conferred separately by the seven constituent institutions and they exist as universities and liberal arts colleges in their own right. The colleges are spread over a square mile site and share certain departmental, library and research facilities.

In New Zealand, the University of Otago has 14 colleges, 5 are independently owned and governed: Selwyn College, Knox College, St Margaret's College, Salmond College and City College. Both dependent and independent colleges provide their own supplementary academic programmes