Higher Education in the USA

To attend an American university students must complete 12 years of primary and secondary education. Students who would like to attend college or university must attend an undergraduate school. These are schools that offer either a two-year degree or a four-year degree in a specific course of study. That course of study is called the major.

An associate degree is a two-year degree given by two types of colleges: community colleges and junior colleges. The two classes of associate degrees are the Associate of Arts (also called the A.A.) and the Associate of Applied science (also called the A.A.S.).

Community colleges are operated by the local government and are financed by public funds. They serve two functions: (1) students who do not want to get a bachelor’s degree will attend a community college to get an associate degree; (2) students who want to get a bachelor’s degree will complete the first two years of their undergraduate education at a community college and then transfer to a four-year college for the last two years. The tuition at a community college is much less than at a four-year college or university. Therefore many American students choose to attend a community college for two years as a way of lowering the cost of getting a bachelor’s degree.

A bachelor’s degree is the traditional degree given by American colleges and universities. It normally requires at least four years of full-time college-level coursework. The two classes of bachelor’s degrees are the Bachelor of Science and the Bachelor of Arts.

Students must complete a required number of courses within their major in order to graduate with a degree in that major. They may also be required to complete a number of courses in closely related fields. A college graduate with a bachelor’s degree may find that degree insufficient for the type of profession he would like to have. It may often be necessary to get an advanced degree, such as a Master’s or Doctorate degree, to advance your career.

Not all colleges and universities offer Master’s degree programs. The Master’s degree is a graduate school degree that typically requires two years of full-time coursework to complete. The Doctorate degree is even more focused and specialized than the Master’s degree. Completion of a doctorate degree typically takes between three and six years. The length of time will depend on the student’s educational background, the field of study selected, the student’s dedication and ability, and the complexity of the thesis the student has chosen.

Task 2

Answer the questions on the text

1. What are the admission terms for the American students?

2. Why do many American students prefer studying in community colleges for the first two years of their university career?

3. What two Bachelor’s degrees do American students grant?

4. What degrees does the graduate school grant?

5. How does the American system of higher education differ from the Russian one?

Task 3

Try to explain the meaning of the following phrases

1. an undergraduate school

2. a major

3. a community college

4. an Associate of Arts degree

5. tuition

Task 4

Find in the text the sentences in the Passive Voice and read them to the group

Task 5

Tell about the American system of Higher education to the group of Russian students (Terms of admission, types of degrees, types of colleges, undergraduate school, graduate school)

Vocabulary practice

Exercise 1

Complete the gaps using the phrases given:research, the cost, community, school, educational, degree, coursework, related, a major, to advance

1. undergraduate _______

2. _______ paper

3. _______ background

4. to lower ______

5. associate _____

6. _______ college

7. to select ______

8. _______ one’s career

9. _______ fields

10. full-time _______

Exercise 2

Fill in the prepositions and make up the sentences of your own

1. prior ___

2. to transfer ___

3. to major ___ maths

4. to depend ___

5. ___ addition ___

6. ___ order to

7. to graduate ____ a degree ___ major

8. to be operated ___

Reading

Task 1

Read the abstract about the assessment system in an American University and answer the questions after it

Unit system

College courses are given a value, which are called “credits” or “units.” The number of units assigned to a course corresponds to the number of hours that a student will attend class for that course. For example, a course that consists of three class sessions per week will be assigned a value of three units. Typically, colleges require that students complete a minimum number of units in order to graduate, rather than a minimum number of courses. This gives students more flexibility in what courses they decide to take to complete their graduation requirements.

Most colleges and universities follow either a quarter-based calendar system or a semester–based calendar system. In a quarter system, the academic year is divided into three sessions called quarters. Each quarter lasts about 12 weeks. There is usually an additional quarter in the summer, where registration is optional. In a semester system, the academic year is divided into two sessions called semesters. Each semester lasts 16 weeks.

Students who have registered for at least 12 units in a session are said to be “full-time” students. Students who have registered for fewer than 12 units in a session are called “part-time” students.

1. What is a unit system?

2. What students may be called “full–time students”?

3. What students may be called “part–time students”?

Problem solving

Introduction

The American system of Higher education has some peculiarities. It is considered a democratic one. But the democracy introduced into the universities as well as in secondary schools seems to cause some troubles for the teaching staff. Very often it results in the low level of education. Among the reasons that strongly influence on the level of higher education the American professors call:

– the absence of core curriculum. Students may choose both the course they would like to study and the lecturer. The lecturer is free to choose the textbook to deliver lectures on, he is free to choose the themes to be learnt, he may omit some themes, which he considers unimportant.

– the absence of oral examinations. All the examinations in American universities are done in a written form. A professor can not call a student to the blackboard and discuss the results of his work in class in front of the classmates.

– the absence of set groups as any student has an individual program of study.

Task