Unit 6: Education in the United States

Selecting a College or University

A Girl College Student

In addition to learning about a school's entrance requirements (and its fees), Americans have a lot of questions to think about when they choose a university or college. They need to know:

What degrees does the school offer? How long does it take to earn one? At the undergraduate (college) level, a four-year "liberal arts" course of study is traditionally offered in such subjects as history, languages and philosophy. (The term "liberal arts" comes from "liberales artes", a Latin expression for free, or human, arts and skills. In the time of the Roman Empire these were skills and arts that only a free person—not a slave—could acquire.) Many liberal arts colleges also offer a bachelor of science (B.S.) degree in physics, chemistry or other scientific subjects. A technical training institution, offering such courses as agriculture or business, offers courses of varying lengths, and community college studies last two years.

Group Discussion

Graduate schools in America award master's and doctor's degrees in both the arts and sciences. (The term "doctor" comes from the Latin word docere, meaning "to teach.") The courses for most graduate degree can be completed in two to four years. But if a graduate program requires original research, a student could spend many additional months or even years in a university library or laboratory.

What curricula does a college or university offer? What are the requirements for earning a degree? In an American university, each college and graduate school has its own curriculum. At the undergraduate level, there may be some courses that every student has to take (for example, classes in world history, math, writing or research). But students do select their "major" (the field in which they want their degree), plus a specific number of "electives" (courses that are not required but that students may choose). The National Institute of Education, a government agency, reports that a total of more than 1 000 majors are offered in America's colleges and universities. The combined electives available in these schools probably amount to a number in the tens of thousands.

Typically, an undergraduate student has to earn a certain number of "credits" (about 120) in order to receive a degree at the end of four years of college. Credits are earned by attending lectures (or lab classes) and by successfully completing assignments and examinations. One credit usually equals one hour of class per week in a single course. A three-credit courses in biology could involve two hours of lectures plus one hour in a science lab, every week. A course may last 10 to 16 weeks-the length of a "semester."

Is the college or university a public institution (operated by a state or local government) or a private one? If it is private, is it a religious school? The United States does not have a national (federal) school system, but each of the 50 states operates its own universities, and so do some large city governments. (The government does grant degrees in the schools it operates for professional members of the armed services for example, the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland.

About 25 percent of all schools of higher education in the United States are privately operated by religious organizations. Most are open to students of different faiths, but in some religious schools all students are required to attend religious services. There are also privately owned schools with no religious connection.

Both public and private colleges depend on three sources of income: student tuition, endowments (gifts made by wealthy benefactors) and government funding. Some endowments are very large: Harvard, Princeton and Yale

Princeton University	Yale library

Universities have more than a thousand million dollars each. Public institutions receive a large portion of public tax money than private schools do.

SUNY

How large is the school? There are many small American colleges—some with fewer than 100 students. But the larger universities tend to keep attracting larger numbers of enrollments. By the mid-1980s, at least seven universities had total enrollments of over 100 000 each. (One of the seven, the State University of New York, had more than 60 campuses in different parts of the state.)

The Mainframe

Why do the large universities flourish? Until recent years, a major answer to this question was: They offer the best libraries and facilities for scientific research. Access to a "mainframe" (very large) computer and to modern laboratories attracts leading scientists to the faculties of such schools. And students enroll to study with the experts. Research programs continue to be important to the reputation of America's universities. But in recent years, the percentage of advanced degrees awarded in the "pure" (research) sciences has declined17. The same has been true for the liberal arts. Students continue to seek the largest, most respected universities—but for new and different programs.

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