Universities in the United States

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Universities in the United States of America are generally either state-funded or privately funded. At both state and private universities students pay substantial tuition fees for their education. In the U.S., universities are usually treated by the law as a corporation like any other, although many states impose special responsibilities to safeguard the welfare of a university's students. Because the U.S. federal government does not directly organize or regulate universities, unofficial but formalized systems of accreditation have been developed by regional networks of academic institutions. In the late 19th century, the U.S. Congress encouraged the creation of many land-grant universities.

The vast majority of American private and public universities are non-profit organizations (meaning that excess tuition is put into providing more and better services), but starting in the 1970s, many for-profit colleges and universities were founded to take advantage of changes in the federal student assistance programs. Many of these institutions rely heavily on distance education.

Undergraduate education

See also Education in the United States

Students apply to U.S. universities and colleges for admission. Generally, public institutions (those partly funded by a state government) are viewed as more lenient and less prestigious than the more expensive private schools. Admissions criteria usually involve test scores (such as the SAT and ACT), high school grade point average, high school class ranking, extracurricular activities, an application essay, and sometimes a personal interview. A student might also attend a community college for two years prior to further study at a college or university whose admissions requirements are stricter.

Once admitted to a university, students engage in undergraduate study, which consists of satisfying course requirements to achieve a bachelor's degree. It is generally expected that the time to degree will be four years, though graduating in three years or five is not uncommon. An undergraduate student is usually called a "freshman" in the first year of study, a "sophomore" in the second year of study, a "junior" in the third year of study, and a "senior" in the fourth year of study. The most common undergraduate degrees granted are the Bachelor of Arts (BA) and the Bachelor of Science (BS), although undergraduates may also earn degrees such as the Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA).

Many U.S. universities provide low-price accommodation for their undergraduate students, typically shared rooms in large dormitories on the university campus. Some universities require their students to live in dormitories for at least a year of study. Some dormitories are single-sex, while some allow both sexes, though students of opposite sexes are rarely placed in the same room. At U.S. universities, the majority of students live away from their parental homes, in marked contrast to Universities in Italy and Spain. The social life of many students is therefore centered around their peers at the university.

External links

[The ranking of USA colleges and universities according to USNEWS]

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