What is the word for college in French?

College (in the American meaning of the Word) is equivalent to what you do after "baccalauréat", the exam opening the path to university, in France. There are a number of structures, such as: (sorted by attendance)

- university; (law, languages, Social Sciences are usually taught at University)

- IUT (Instituts Universitaire de Technologie) which are part of University but students are organized in groups (the size of a classroom); the attendance is strictly controled and exams are frequent. The subjects taught are more specific (accounting, business management, some engineering for instance)

- some "lycées" (upper high schools) have a two-year course after the baccalauréat. Curriculum is mainly technical (i.e. water resource management)

- "prépa / classes prépa": they are mostly math or science-oriented and serve to prepare students to the "grandes écoles" entrance exams

- "Grandes écoles": they are prestigious and very selective. The country élite has gone through one of these.

And I surely forgot some others.

Beware that the Word collège in France has the meaning of "junior high school" (ages 10-11 to 14-15)