Four-year colleges offer four-year programs that lead to a bachelor's degree. These include universities and liberal arts colleges.

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Two-year colleges offer programs that last up to two years that lead to a certificate or an associate degree. These include community colleges, vocational-technical colleges and career colleges.

Public colleges are funded by local and state governments and usually offer lower tuition rates than private colleges, especially for students who are residents of the state where a college is located.

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Examples of public colleges include: University of Iowa, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Iowa State University, Universit of Northern IowaUniversity of California-LA

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Private colleges rely mainly on tuition, fees and private sources of funding. Private donations can sometimes provide generous financial aid packages for students.

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Examples of private colleges include: Loras College, University of Dubuque, University of Denver, Lake Forest College, Washington University in St. Louis, University of Notre Dame

A liberal arts and sciences education is broad. You’ll study literature, languages, and the natural and social sciences. There also might be options to study computer science and business, to set up a career internship, and to study abroad for a term. Most are private and offer four-year programs that lead to a bachelor's degree.

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Studies have shown that a liberal arts education makes you a careful reasoner and a creative and flexible thinker. You’ll learn to speak and write persuasively and to solve complex problems. All of these are qualities that employers and graduate programs value.

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A liberal arts education will help you understand the world around you and develop your interests, talents and values. If you enjoy a variety of subjects and think you could succeed in a number of areas, then you probably should consider the liberal arts and sciences.

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Examples of liberal arts and sciences colleges include: Beloit College, Grinnell College, Kalamazoo College, Knox College, Oberlin College, Augustana College, DePauw University

Universities often are larger and offer more majors and degree options—bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees—than colleges. Most universities contain several smaller colleges, such as colleges of liberal arts, engineering or health sciences. These colleges can prepare you for a variety of careers or for graduate study.

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Examples of Universities include: University of Iowa, Boston University, Yale University, Iowa State University University of Southern California

Community colleges offer two-year associate degrees that prepare you to transfer to a four-year college to earn a bachelor's degree. They also offer other associate degrees and certificates that focus on preparing you for a certain career. Community colleges are often an affordable option with relatively low tuition.

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Examples of community colleges include: Northeast Iowa Community College, Hawkeye Community College, DMACC

Vocational-technical and career colleges offer specialized training in a particular industry or career. Possible programs of study include the culinary arts, firefighting, dental hygiene and medical-records technology. These colleges usually offer certificates or associate degrees.

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Examples of vocational-technical and career colleges include: Kendall College, Allen College, AIB College of Business IIT Technical Institute.

Art colleges and conservatories focus on the arts. In addition to regular course work, these colleges provide training in areas such as photography, music, theater or fashion design. Most of these colleges offer associate or bachelor's degrees in the fine arts or a specialized field.

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Examples of arts colleges include: San Fransisco School of Art & Deign, Illinois Institute of Art & Design, Savannah College of Art, Kansas City Art Institute, and New Hampshire Institute of Art.

Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) focus on educating African American students. Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs) are colleges where at least 25 percent of the full-time undergraduate students are Hispanic. HBCUs and HSIs may offer programs, services and activities targeted to the underrepresented students they serve.

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Examples of HBCUs include: Howard University, Clark Atlanta University, Tennessee State University, Dillard Univeristy, and Spelman College.

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Examples of HSIs include: Northeastern Illinois University, Morton College, and Valencia College

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These are businesses that offer a variety of degree programs which typically prepare students for a specific career. They tend to have higher costs, which could mean graduating with more debt. Credits earned may not transfer to other colleges, so be sure to check with the admission office at each college.

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Examples of for-profit colleges include: University of Phoenix, Westwood College, IIT Technical Institute, Kaplan University,  Le Cordon Bleu.