[Tagging] "building=college" tag missing from building key page

[Kevin Kenny]

On Thu, Dec 7, 2017 at 1:31 PM, Marco Boeringa <marco at boeringa.demon.nl> wrote:
> Yes, I agree "school" is a pretty loose term used from anything ranging from
> kindergarten to primary to secondary school / high school / college.
>
> However, "college" and "university" aren't. College, as Vao Matua also
> pointed out, usually refers to secondary school / high school age education,
> where the buildings do have additional (lab) facilities for science
> teaching, where a primary school usually wouldn't.
>
> I am fully aware many secondary schools / high schools are currently simply
> tagged "building=school". Ideally though, if there is a proper reference to
> "building=college" as well, I think many of these may in the long run be
> retagged to this more appropriate tag, if it clearly explains referencing
> secondary / high school education.

And, although I'm well aware that UK English is the standard for OSM
tagging, this tag will continue to cause confusion on this side of the
Atlantic indefinitely. Americans use 'college' and 'university' as
synonyms; you never hear 'college' used in American English for
anything but a post-secondary institution. (This is an artifact of
history: early on, most of the institutions that became our
universities were indeed colleges.  They grew to take on the
post-secondary and research roles, and eventually ceded secondary
education.)

There's a weak correlation in that institutions with 'college' in
their name usually do not grant anything beyond a four-year degree,
while 'universities' have graduate programs, but that's very weak.  A
good many older universities retain the name 'college' despite
having extensive postgraduate programs, while even
some 'community colleges' (2-year institutions) presume to take on the
'university' label.

The tag is confusing even in the UK, where (as in the US), 'college'
can refer also to a subdivision of a university. Moreover, in the UK,
a 'college' in the university setting is often housed in a cluster of
buildings that offer residential accommodation and food service
as well as teaching and laboratories. It's a difficult term.

I'd much prefer something like 'landuse=education education=secondary'.
We can dispute the precise tagging, but 'college' is just too
overloaded.