Higher Education in the United States

The United States leads all industrial nations in the proportion of young men and women who receive higher education. Americans place a high value on higher education. This attitude goes back to the country's oldest political traditions. People in the United States have always believed that education is necessary for maintaining a democratic government. Besides, for some careers - law, medicine, education, and engineering - a college education is a necessary first step.

The system of higher education in the United States is complex. It comprises four categories of institutions: (1) the university which may contain several colleges for undergraduate students seeking a bachelor's (four-year) degree and one or more graduate schools for those seeking a master's or a doctoral degree; (2) the four-year undergraduate institution - the college - most of which are not part of a university; (3) the technical training institution providing courses from six months to four years in duration and training students in a variety of skills, from hair styling through business accounting to computer programming; (4) and the two- year or community college from which students may enter many profes­sions or may transfer to four-year colleges or universities

Depending on the source of its funding any of these institutions may be either public or private, there being no clear distinction in terms of quality of education offered. However this is not to say that all institutions enjoy equal prestige or that there are no material differences among them. Both public and private colleges depend on three sources of income: student tuitions, endowments (gifts made by wealthy benefactors) and government funding. Some endowments are very large: Harvard, Princeton, Yale Universities have more than a thousand million dollars each. Public institutions receive a larger portion of public-tax money than do private schools.

In an American university, each college and graduate school has its own curriculum. At the undergraduate level there may be some courses that a student has to take (e.g. classes in world history, math, writing or research). But students do select their "major" (the field in which they want their degree), plus a number of "electives"(courses that are not required but that students may choose). 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.

Exercise 7. Match the entries of the left-hand column with their Ukrainian equivalents in the right-hand column:

place a high value можливості для досліджень

seek a degree доступ до комп'ютера

transfer to a university державні установи

source of funding високо цінувати

clear distinction перевестись до університету

student tuition здобувати ступінь

endowment джерело фінансування

benefactor приватні навчальні заклади