Colloquial usage

Colloquially, the term university may be used to describe a phase in one's life: "when I was at university…" (in the United States and Ireland, college is used instead: "when I was in college..."). See the college article for further discussion. In Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the German-speaking countries "university" is often contracted to "uni". In New Zealand and in South Africa it is sometimes called "varsity", which was also common usage in the UK in the 19th century.