6 ways college is different in the US and the UK

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A cyclist rides beneath Oxford's Bridge of Sighs.

• College in the United Kingdom looks very different than the United States, despite a shared language and history.
• UK college students pay less for education, have a different grading system, and spend less time completing their degrees compared to American students.
• Whether you're preparing to study abroad or are just curious about the cultural differences, here are six ways college is different in the UK and US.

Although they share a language and parts of history, the United States and the United Kingdom are still very distinct countries with a number of cultural differences. The difference in higher education is particularly pronounced.

I'm an American who studied abroad in Scotland, so I learned a lot about these differences firsthand. In addition, I'm married to a Brit, and my husband and I constantly confuse one another when regaling each other with our college stories, or in his case, "uni stories."

Here are six ways college is different in the UK than in the US: