I'm looking for a way to say college level on the abstract of a paper. In Portuguese we say ensino superior. A direct translation for that would be higher education, but I don't think that fits the language expected on academic writing. Am I right? If so, then what should I say?

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    What is the title of the paper whose abstract this reference is to appear in? Do you mean you are writing for an audience of college students? Or that you have been to college? Or that you are now in college? Or that your English is college-level? Really, it's impossible to figure out what you're asking. – John Lawler Dec 26 '16 at 21:42

In Australia formal studies pursued after high school are known as tertiary education, in the same vein as primary and secondary education. The term encompasses technical and vocational education in addition to undergraduate university degrees.


In British-English I would say higher education. In America I think college level would be more common. In formal Bureaucratese "post secondary education" is probably the most correct term

  • Academe in the UK tends to use the generic 'tertiary education' to cover "formal bureaucratize [sic] post secondary education". – Peter Point Dec 27 '16 at 6:34
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    I'd forgotten that one. Does it make a PhD Quaternary education, I wonder? – mgb Dec 27 '16 at 19:31
