The term college professor gets thrown around quite a bit, often leading to some degree of confusion. University and college, in North America, generally mean the same thing, while in many places in the rest of the world, these are two, distinctly different institutions, with Universities being more prestigious, while colleges focus on more “practical” skills. 

The term professor doesn’t necessarily mean the same thing everywhere. In most of the English-speaking world, it represents the highest “rank” one can get while teaching at a university. But it often gets thrown around to represent anyone who teaches a class at a higher educational institution. 

It doesn’t help that in the wildly popular Harry Potter films and books, the characters, who basically go through primary school to high school in the same location, all call their teachers “professors.” This is really never explained, however, the Wizarding world doesn’t appear to have an equivalent of higher education, so perhaps that’s why teachers and professors are all rolled into one. 

Indeed, some professors don’t even teach, although these are generally referred to as “research professors,” since their main task (if it isn’t obvious) is to conduct research. This is not to take away from their abilities, contributions, or intelligence, but it can be slightly confusing to understand what a person’s role is. 

Even worse, the term professor, in a more pejorative sense, is often used to designate someone who is more intelligent than the rest of the group. In the US, stereotypically, a pianist or musician in a rough-and-tumble saloon might be called a professor by the regulars. This could be a term of endearment, or an insult, depending on the situation.