What is "hochschule"

(, plural: ) is the generic term in German for the institutions of tertiary education, corresponding to universities and colleges in English.

The term Universität (plural: Universitäten) is reserved for institutions with the right to confer doctorates. In contrast, Hochschule encompasses Universitäten as well as institutions that are not authorized to confer doctorates.

Roughly equivalent terms to Hochschule are used in some other European countries, such as högskola in Scandinavia, and (literally "main school") in Hungary, as well as in post-Soviet countries (deriving from высшее учебное заведение), in Central Europe, in Bulgaria ( висше училище) and Romania.