A Different World is een Amerikaanse komedieserie van de zender NBC. De serie ging in première op 1 september 1987.
In deze spin-off van de populaire sitcom 'The Cosby Show' begint Denise Huxtable aan haar tweede jaar op Hillman, de universiteit waar haar ouders en grootvader ook gestudeerd hebben. Ze gaat in Gilbert Hall wonen en deelt daar een kamer met de 26-jarige Jaleesa Vinson en de praatgrage Maggie Lauten.
Whitley meets Julian, an attractive exchange student from Georgetown who is part of Hillman's anti-apartheid group. Kim receives a scholarship that will solve her financial problems and allow her to gain work experience in a lab, rather than flipping burgers at the Pit. Unfortunately, Freddie discovers that the company funding the scholarship is a subsidiary of a corporation with investments in South Africa. Julian proposes a boycott; he angers Whitley by recommending that Hillman cut all financial ties with the corporation, as this would cost Kim her scholarship. Due to her father's health problems, Kim would have to work two jobs to stay in school. A young man from South Africa argues against the termination of scholarships, because he feels that the success of African American students serves as a beacon of hope to black South Africans mired in poverty and oppression. Kim decides to turn down the scholarship anyway. Whitley accepts a date with Julian.