Agree with @merc81 . It is especially difficult to explain to international students because in many languages the word, “college” - as opposed to the word, “university” - is translated as “high school”. The LAC is an American invention. Almost every Ivy League university, with exception of Cornell, grew out of what was essentially a LAC with a few buildings, some playing fields, and a handful of professors, many of whom were clergymen.
The terms college and university were virtually interchangeable until late in the nineteenth century when graduate school training, based on the German model, took root in this country and the term “university” tended to be reserved for those placess where students could pursue advanced degrees side by side with baccalaureate students, the latter being attached to what, on many campuses, is referred to as the college of arts and sciences.
The hundred or so true LACs left in this country are organized roughly the same way as a college of arts and sciences; they cover the same subject matter, afford the same training for med school and grad school. They’re just smaller.