Look at university and college. They are about the same topic. Should they be merged?
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Which one should "win"? :-) Maybe we can have a poll via two competing answers..– GS - Apologise to Monica ModOct 2, 2020 at 17:42
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@GS-ApologisetoMonica I've written an answer in favor of "university". :-)– FluxOct 3, 2020 at 2:12
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Sounds good - if someone wants to argue for "college" they can post an answer.– GS - Apologise to Monica ModOct 3, 2020 at 10:44
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Other tags should also be considered for merging with these: school, education, education-savings, tuition– Ben MillerOct 7, 2020 at 12:28
2 Answers
On one hand, college has more questions than university. 97 questions vs. 12 questions.
On the other hand:
Few countries use "college" to refer to "university" (most notably the US). In most countries, colleges either do not have degree-awarding powers, are merely high schools, or are part of universities.
In any case, when speaking to a global audience, "college" is ambiguous whereas "university" is less so.
Therefore, I suggest that university wins.
Further reading:
The underlying problem is that most questions originate in the US, where "college" and "university" have the same meaning.
The secondary problem (a very common one on SE sites) is the poor tag data:
- college: Questions related to saving and paying for a college education
- university: [ empty ]
possibly because "college" can be used in different ways in different countries.
But both tags are far too specific for the questions being asked.
When one is saving for or paying off one's educational expenses, does it really matter what specific kind of institution it is?
Perhaps both tags should be replaced by:
- education: Questions related to saving and paying for post-secondary education
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2I think "education" might be misused for educational materials about investing.– FluxOct 3, 2020 at 18:29
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3
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education is already a tag, and should probably also be merged with the other ones. Oct 7, 2020 at 12:18
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+1 for "education". I think that college, university, education-savings, school, and tuition should all be merged into this. Oct 7, 2020 at 12:59