Educational Focus: American Education System, Part 2

Last week we looked at the American Educational System from Kindergarten through High School. Today we’ll take a brief look at post-secondary education in the U.S.: American colleges and universities.

After completion of high school, many students continue their education by attending a college or a university. Although most people use the terms interchangeably, there is a difference between a college and a university. A college generally has a smaller student enrollment and consists of one school (the college). On the other hand, a university usually has a larger student enrollment and consists of several schools: for example, a typical university can have a college of liberal arts and sciences, a college of engineering, and a college of education. For the student there is little practical difference; both colleges and universities are degree-granting institutions, enabling their graduates to have better job prospects than they would otherwise with only a high school education.

When a student attends college/university, he chooses a major, or area of concentration and specialization. Many different types of majors are available. Ideally, a student chooses his major first (or at least has some idea of what he’d like to concentrate on), and then chooses a school based on major he’d like to study. Typical majors would include: engineering (mechanical engineering, industrial engineering, electrical engineering, or chemical engineering), physics, chemistry, biology, pre-med, pre-law, history, English/literature, a foreign language, education, mathematics, statistics, computer science/IT, physical education, physical therapy, accounting, business, marketing, hotel and restaurant management, fashion design, fine arts (music, art, theater), and nursing. Each major has its own degree requirements in addition to the general education requirements of the college/university. Students can double major (complete the requirements for two majors simultaneously) or major in one area and minor in another.

Like high school, most students take four years to complete the degree requirements, and so we have the corresponding classes for college/university: first-year students are freshmen, second-year students are sophomores, third-year students are juniors, and fourth-year students are seniors. Freshmen and sophomores are underclassmen; juniors and seniors are upperclassmen. In reality, four years to complete the degree is an average. Some students may complete their degree early by taking summer school and interim classes; others may take longer than four years due to poor schedules, having to repeat courses, or by working on two majors. Consequently, in college, years are determined largely by how many credit hours one has. Each course is worth a set number of credit hours; for example, a course that meets three hours per week for the semester would be worth three credit hours. The more courses a student takes, the more credit hours he earns upon completion of the course. 12 – 15 credit hours are considered a normal (full-time) class load, and would be the equivalent of four or five classes of three credit hours each. In addition to the time spent in class, students are expected to spend a minimum of two hours study outside of class for every hour spent in class. Thus, 12 – 15 credit hours represent a minimum of 36 – 45 hours each week that a student should devote to his education.

After completing the degree requirements as set forth by the college/university, students are awarded a bachelor’s degree. A bachelor’s degree is the lowest post-secondary degree awarded by four-year institutions like colleges and universities. A student typically earns either a bachelor of arts degree (B.A.) or a bachelor of science degree (B.S.). There is little practical difference between a B.A. and a B.S., as most employers are satisfied that their employees have a degree. Accordingly, completion of college represents the final stage of education for most people: after graduation, students look for a job and enter the world of work.