COLLEGE (Collegiuyn), in Roman law, a number of persons associated together by the possession of common functions—a body of colleagues; in many respects the collegium was what we should now call a corporation (q.v.) . Collegia might exist for pur poses of trade like the English gilds, or for religious purposes (e.g., the college of augurs, etc.), or for political purposes; e.g., tribunorum plebis collegia. By the Roman law a collegium must have at least three members. The name is now usually applied to educational corporations, such as the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge, with which, in the numerous English statutes relating to colleges, the colleges of Winchester and Eton are usually asso ciated. These colleges are in the eye of the law eleemosynary cor porations. In some of the earlier statutes of Elizabeth they are spoken of as having an ecclesiastical character, but the doctrine of the common law since the Reformation has been that they are purely lay corporations, notwithstanding that most or all of their members may be persons in priest's orders.
Colleges appear to have grown out of the voluntary association of students and teachers at the university. According to some accounts these must at one time have been numerous and flourish ing beyond anything we are now acquainted with. We are told, for example, of 30o halls or societies at Oxford, and 30,00o stu dents. In early times there seems to have been a strong desire to confine the scholars to certain licensed houses beyond the in fluence of the townspeople. Men of wealth and culture, and notably the political bishops and chancellors of England, obtained charters from the Crown for the incorporation of societies of scholars, and these in time became exclusively the places of abode for students attending the university. At the same time the cor porations thus founded were not necessarily attached to the locality of the university. The early statutes of Merton college, for exampleccasion, e residence college b o ; and the of at e Ipswich seem to have been the same in intention. In later times (until the introduction of non-collegiate students) the university and the colleges became coextensive; every member of the uni versity had to attach himself to some college or hall, and every person admitted to a college or hall was obliged to matriculate himself in the university.
The fellowships, scholarships, etc., of colleges were until a comparatively recent date subject to various restrictions. Birth in a particular county, education at a particular school, relationship to the founder and holy orders, are amongst the most usual of the conditions giving a preferential or conclusive claim to the emoluments. Most of these restrictions have been swept away. The American college has no exact counterpart in the educa tional system of other countries. It was developed from the European systems and particularly from the British Universities. While the older colleges such as Harvard, Princeton and Yale are in primary form of organization quite similar to the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, the representative American college is an institution with adaptations widely different from the older schools. The three commonly accepted divisions of education in the United States, primary, secondary and higher stages, are fully recognized but are not rigorously followed. The typical American college is a composite institution, in part secondary and in part higher in its organization. It normally consists of a four-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree. The many ten dencies at present existing in American institutions of higher edu cation are discussed under UNIVERSITIES; EDUCATION SCHOOLS. The term "college" (like "academy") is also applied to various institutions; e.g., to colleges of physicians and surgeons, and to the electoral college in the United States presidential elections, etc. For the Sacred College, see CARDINAL.