A technical college focuses on teaching work skills. It is contrasted by a university, which focuses more on theoretical understanding and research.

In Germany, a technical college or university of applied sciences denotes a Fachhochschule, a university handing out diploma, bachelor or master degrees. The diploma degrees from such institutions are regarded inferior when applying for jobs with the public administration. Generally degrees awarded by technical colleges are expected to represent more pragmatic and practical, working knowledge than university degrees, which are expected to represent a more academic and theoretic approach to education. Technical college graduates tend to earn less than university graduates. It is not possible to earn a Doctor (Dr.) or PhD degree at a German technical college, since these are purely academic degrees. Furthermore only certain areas of study are possible (e.g. computer science, electrical engineering, social work, economy degrees, etc.), while others are limited to universities only (medical degrees, law degrees, etc.). The new bachelor and master degrees brought to the German technical colleges in a process of European and international education harmonization alleviate the strict separation of university and technical college degrees somewhat, as those degrees are officially of equal validity, but employers may take a closer look at where one graduate studied than they used to.