đại học

Etymology
, from Chinese.

Noun

 * 1) university, college, institution of higher education that awards bachelor's degrees or higher
 * 2) university or college education for a bachelor's degree or equivalent
 * 1) university or college education for a bachelor's degree or equivalent

Usage notes

 * Đại học translates as both "university" and "college" in English, regardless of whether the institution in question is a "university" as a collection of "colleges" (such as the University of Cambridge), or a specialized "college" (such as Kellogg College of Oxford or the Royal College of Art). It can refer to an institution that offers postgraduate education, but when people talk about học đại học, the foreseeable end goal is simply a graduate degree, like a bachelor's or engineer's degree. In English translations of institution names, đại học tends to translate as "university", while cao đẳng as "college".