The story
From being a style found on colleges and universities similar to gothic.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Collegiate Gothic
Today it means: A style of Gothic Revival architecture inspired by Gothic, which includes Camford/Oxbridge style quadrangle campuses, and American Gothic style buildings. Used on North American university and college campuses, and other schools of high prestige (prep schools, private schools, etc). Full definition →