Higher education in the usa

According to recent statistics in the USA about 50 per cent of the young people aged 18 enter some institutions of higher learning. Some of them attend a so-called junior college, i.e. a college which in two years training offers either a general course of study or special training for laboratory technicians, dental hygienists or computer programmers. The great majority of young people who go to college, however, enter either a four-year college or a university. There are over 2.500 colleges and universities in the USA, two thirds of them are private and one third state-supported, The proportion of students, however, is one third at private colleges and universities, two thirds at state institutions.

Colleges and universities

The colleges and universities in the United States offer four-year courses of study, which generally lead to the first degree of Bachelor. There is the Bachelor of Arts (called the BA) and the Bachelor of Science (the BS) for those engaged in the study of science.

A university is usually a teaching institution consisting of one or more undergraduate colleges, i.e. four-year colleges, and a number of graduate departments and graduate schools. There are graduate departments for such subjects as history, economics, physics, anthropology or literature and graduate schools such as Law Schools, Medical Schools or Schools of Engineering.

Private universities and colleges

There are a large number of independent or private colleges and universities in the US. Some of the oldest and best known of them are the Universities of Harvard, Jale and Columbia. They are famous for the possession of a pleasant rural campus and the general social position of their students. Tuition here is rather high.

They originally receive many times more applications than they have places. Traditionally some of these prestigious colleges deliberately restricted their size and kept their student body under 1500oreven 1200 to ensure the personal relationship and informality of a small institution. But at present even these universities and colleges are interested in getting more students than ever before.

The private colleges and universities choose only those students whom they consider most desirable on the basis of academic record (marks and number of courses) extracurricular or social activities (choral clubs, athletics, orchestra, journalism, dramatics) and personality.

State universities

Among the universities in the US there are a large number of state institutions. State undergraduate colleges are free to residents of a particular state. Each of 50 states has at least one such university with extensions or colleges in several different cities.

Like the private colleges and universities, these state universities vary very widely in physical equipment, faculty, student body and reputation.

Some, like the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, have very high standards, particularly in science. Many state universities have one or two graduate schools which rank especially high.

The system of awarding Bachelor, Master and Doctor degrees is much the same as that of English institutions of higher learning. Students can similarly earn a law degree, a degree of engineering or a medical degree. Two or a three years' practical work at a hospital are required before the owner of a medical degree is licensed to practise medicine

independently.

SUBJECTS AND COURSES OF STUDY

Since each state can set its own educational requirements and most make only very general regulations for the private colleges they license, there are many variations in the subjects and courses of study, but most students often take a major subject and one or two minors. They must attend a certain number of courses in their major subject, a smaller number in the first minor and a still smaller number in the second minor if they have chosen two.

There are certain required courses which all first year students must take. They include English, American history, usually a minimum amount of mathematics and others. Other courses - usually an enormous, variety – are called elective and compose about a half of the student's programme.

Students are required to do a certain amount of written work, to make oral reports in class and, in advanced courses, to write term papers or theses. The physical sciences will usually schedule a two-hour laboratory period for each hour of lectures in a course. A final examination is taken at the conclusion of each subject (it usually lasts for a year, but sometimes only one term) and there-is no general diploma exam before graduation except in special honours courses. If a student fails or drops too many courses and has too poor an attendance record he may be expelled at the end of a term or year.