US Education Blog

College education and university education, or post-secondary one is not dependent upon the school education and is controlled separately from it. The term of the secondary education, as a rule, lasts for four years. If speaking about grades, they are commonly called: freshmen, sophomore, junior, and senior years or if such system is too complicated for you, you may call it the first year of study, the second year of study, and so on, and so force.

All the educational institutions of the post-secondary education are different in the admission process, curriculums, and reputations. All the educational establishments are divided into public and private. Private ones are considered to be more advantageous than public.

After one has become a student, he or she is considered to study in the undergraduate level. The education is based on studying majors. After four years of such study, a student achieves a bachelor’s degree: Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) or Bachelor of Science (B.S.);  Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) or Bachelor of Social Work (B.S.W.); Bachelor of Engineering (B.Eng.,) or Bachelor of Philosophy (B.Phil.). Five-year program offers Bachelor of Architecture Degree (B.Arch.).

Graduate study presupposes master’s degrees: Master of Arts (MA), Master of Science (MS), Master of Business Administration (MBA), Master of Education (MEd), and Master of Fine Arts (MFA).

After receiving master’s degree, those who want to increase the level of the degree is welcome to earn doctor’s degrees: Doctor of Arts, Doctor of Education, Doctor of Theology, Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Pharmacy, Doctor of Physical Therapy, or Doctor of Jurisprudence.

While speaking about the education in the United States of America, it should be mentioned that it is mainly provided and controlled by the government. Funding is provided from three main levels of sources: federal, state, local. Elementary and high school levels of education are considered to be obligatory ones. Abroad, elementary and high school levels are famous as the primary and secondary education. School districts are those to set the policy of teaching and funding within the local schools. School districts have their own officials and budgets.

The age for the compulsory education differs from state to state, however, there is one main condition to all the state: the age for the compulsory education should not exceed the age of 18.

You are welcome to choose among public schools, private schools, and home schools. As a rule, the education within public and private schools is divided into three levels: elementary school, junior high school, and senior high school. According to the age of the students, they are divided into the separate groups, called grades: from the first up to the 12th grade. The twelfth grade is the highest one and it is time to leave school and to continue with the post-secondary education in college.