THE SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE USA

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 640.

Higher, or postsecondary education in the US builds on 12 years of education at the primary and secondary level. After completion of high school at about age 18, students may enter college or university to work toward a baccalaureate degree; or they may enter two-year community colleges or technical schools. The bachelor's degree, which takes four or sometimes five years to complete, can stand alone or can serve as the prerequisite for graduate work.

At the graduate level, students may enter a one to three-year master's program, or enter directly into predoctoral programs which lead after three to five years to a doctoral degree. Some students complete a master's degree and then enter a doctoral program, in the same field or in a different field.

After receiving a doctorate, many students pursue further research under a postdoctoral fellowship before seeking a permanent position with a university, research center or business.

In almost every academic institution, faculties are organized into departments based on academic field. Each department operates independently, headed by a department chairman (or dean), under broad university guidelines.

Faculty titles denote academic rank: in order, they are Lecturer (or Instructor), Assistant Professor, Associate Professor and Professor. As for the students they become freshmen after being applicants and entering a college or university. The second year students are called sophomores, and then they become juniors, seniors, undergraduates and, finally, graduates. Those who study at the university after receiving their first degree are called post-graduates.

The academic year begins in late august or early September and ends in May or June, for most colleges and universities. The semester system divides the academic year into two equal terms of approximately 16 weeks each. The quarter system divides the academic year into three equal terms of approximately 11 weeks each. Usually there is a fourth ‘summer quarter'. The trimester system has three equal terms of approximately 16 weeks each, including a summer term. Most students take the summer off, and some other students choose to go to summer school and earn units which may help them to complete their degree work in a shorter length of time than normally required.

In order to receive credit for your work, you must be properly registered. This includes registering for each class taken during the term. If, after the semester starts, you find that you have enrolled in too many classes, you can drop (withdraw) from a class without penalty – so long as you do so before an established deadline. It is also possible to add a class.

In order to receive your degree, you must accumulate a specific number of credits or units, and you must also complete a specific number of courses required for your major. Different courses earn different number of credits, depending on how many hours a week a class meets, whether it is a laboratory course or other course.

Each institution usually specifies a minimum and a maximum number of units (study loads) a student can take in one term.

While the quantity of a student's work at the university is measured in credits or units, the quality of the work is measured in grades. There are several grading systems:

1. The fixed grading system: each assignment or examination can receive up to a fixed number of points. At the end of the semester, the total points earned by a student are added up and a letter is given according to a fixed scale.

2. The percentage system: a perfect paper is 100 percent. Grades given reflect the percentage of work the student has done correctly. Usually there is a fixed formula for letter grades (for instance, 90-100 % = A; 80-90% = B, etc.).

3. Grading on the curve: in this system, grades are assigned according to the performance of the class as a whole. For example, if a test has 100 questions but the best score is 58 correct and the worst score is 19, the teacher will create the corresponding grading scheme.

At most institutions, there are four passing grades: ‘A', ‘B', ‘C' and ‘D' (and shades in between as indicated on the chart below). There is one failing grade, usually ‘F'. ‘Incomplete' (‘Inc.' or ‘I') indicates that work for the course has not been completed, due to circumstances that the professor understands and accepts.

Some courses may be offered on a ‘pass/fail' basis. Work is judged to be satisfactory (‘pass') or unsatisfactory (‘fail').

Numerical values called ‘grade points' are used for keeping achievement records of students. The 4.0 grade point system is probably the most common system used in the US institutions.

A student's grade point average (GPA) is calculated by multiplying the number of units (credits) attempted in each course by the grade points earned in that course.

Methods of instruction in US universities and colleges vary with the type of class and the style of the professor who is teaching it. Methods of instruction may include:

1. Lectures, which are usually supplemented by an extra ‘discussion' class.

2. Class discussions – in some classes your grade will be partly determined by your participation in class discussions.

3. Seminars – small classes, typically at the graduate level. Students are required to prepare presentations based on independent reading or research.

4. Laboratories, where theory learned in classroom is applied to practical problems.

In the US there are no national exams. Students usually take one or more exams as part of their grade assessment (= a mark from A to E or F showing how well they have done) for each class. At colleges and universities these exams are often called midterms or finals, and during the year students have exams in all or most of their classes.

People who wish to study at a US university usually have to take one or several standardized tests. Students going to university for the first time may take the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) or the ACT (American College Test). People who want to do a higher degree may take the GRE (Graduate Record Examination), LSAT (Law School Admission Test) or MCAT (Medical College Admission Test), depending on what they want to study. Students from other countries must usually show knowledge of English and the most common test for this purpose is the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language). Standardized tests often do not show how mush people know about a subject, but how strong their skills are in areas like reading and solving problems.

Some professions require people to pass special exams before they are qualified to practice. Lawyers in the US, for example, must pass the bar exam in the state in which they wish to work, to show that they know the laws of the state.

ASSIGNMENTS

I. Read the text “The system of higher education in the USA” and answer the following questions:

1. What does higher or postsecondary education in the US build on?

2. Whom is each department headed by?

3. What do you have to do in order to receive your degree?

4. What is the quantity and the quality of a student's work measured in?

5. Are there any national exams in the US?