The open science movement is quietly sweeping the world, reshaping the scientific ecology and promoting knowledge innovation. Colleges and universities have become key stakeholders in the implementation of the philosophy of open science. This study is based on the case study method and content analysis method, demonstrates the characteristics and results, and summarizes the important enlightenments of the open access practice of the colleges and universities. With the development of the open science practice and the evolution of open science philosophy, the governance characteristics of open access have been initially formed by shaping philosophy, improving organizations, issuing policies, optimizing infrastructures and strengthening exchanges; while making some progress in providing access, enabling usage and providing matching infrastructures, it also faces many challenges including how to improve the governance capacity, giving all stakeholders into consideration and deepening the degree of openness. The open access practice of colleges and universities in the United States indicate that colleges and universities should be good at creating an open scientific environment, giving full play to the functions of interest groups, and learning from the lessons and experiences of open access.