Warming up the cold spots

There are around 4,000 universities and HE colleges in the USA and I must admit I’ve long been interested in the unusual names some of them have. I’m sure some UK university names seem equally odd to those overseas too and those from other nations will wonder about Marjon, De Montfort and Bishop Grosseteste universities. There are a few US institutions though which share their titles with UK locations which currently lack a fully-fledged university but might quite like one.

Here’s the top 10 of US universities which really should be warming up those HE cold spots in the UK:

1. Barry University
2. Spalding University
3. Kettering University
4. Salisbury University
5. Iona University
6. Cumberland University
7. Boston University
8. Cleveland University
9. Monmouth University
10. Morningside College

(Before the complaints start rolling in, I do know that several of the places in the top 10 already do have university provision.)

And then there are quite a few which share their names with existing UK universities. Some are more exact matches than others but all identifiable and likely to cause major confusion should any of them ever decide to open a UK campus:

• Manchester University
• St Andrews University
• Lincoln University
• St Mary’s University
• King’s College
• Regent University
• Kent State University
• Suffolk University
• Edinboro University (if you ignore the spelling)
• Norwich University
• Plymouth State University

And there are a few similar sounding colleges too:

• Hampshire College
• Hastings College
• Blackburn College
• Cambridge College
• Guilford College (almost)
• Westminster College
• Ripon College
• Huntingdon College
• York College

It’s not just the UK though. There are quite a few US universities and colleges which share their names with European cities and towns. Here’s my top 10:

1. Brescia University
2. Valencia College
3. University  of Toledo
4. Sofia University 
5. Geneva College
6. Augsburg University
7. Lyon College
8. Heidelberg University
9. Lourdes University
10. Viterbo University

Sadly no place for Piedmont College, Siena Heights University or Vincennes University this time. And as for Carthage College, Valparaiso University, Peru State College and Lebanon Valley College, I’m not sure what their founders were thinking of.

I’m sure I’ve missed some. Are there other US universities which really could be in the UK or continental Europe?