Americans and Higher Education

Americans have shown a great concern for education since colonial times. Among the first settlers there was an unusual high proportion of educated men. Some of these men, graduates of Cambridge, founded Harvard College in 1636.

Today about 60% of all schools graduates enter about 3600 colleges and universities of the USA.

The United States does not have a national system of education. The result of this is a big variety in higher education.

Local high schools will offer courses which they feel best reflect their students’ needs. Students at the same school will be taking courses in different areas.

Education in America has also traditionally served the goal of bringing people together, that is, of “Americanization”. There are bilingual and bicultural education programs. 80 languages are being used for instruction in American high schools.

There are two tests for high school students who wish to attend a college or university. The SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) attempts to measure aptitudes in verbal and mathematic fields. The ACT (American College Testing) – in English, mathematics, social and natural sciences. Each year more than 3 million school students take the Tests. They are used by universities as standards for comparison, but are not official.

UNIT 2