英语国家概况论文 黄爱灵

湖南涉外经济学院外国语学院2013-2014《英语国家概况》期末小论文班级_英本1202班___ 姓名__黄爱灵__评分____________

American Higher Education

American education system in the United States is the world's cause of education of the most developed countries in the world. American education system as early as the founding of beginning to take shape when, after 200 years of development and gradually perfect, Formation of the primary, secondary and tertiary institutions

High education in the United States began with the founding of Harvard College in 1636. In the past more than 300 years, it has developed into a large enterprise with a very complex system. The higher education comprises four categories of institutions: a) the university; b) the four-year undergraduate institution----the college; c) the technical training institution; and d) the two-year community college.

In America, the education system has the differentGraduate Degrees years, Bachelor’s Degree have 4 years; Master’s Degree have 1-2 years; Doctor’s Degree, ph.D (doctor of philosophy), have at least 3 years.

So what are the differences between the “college” and the “university” in America? The term “college”refers to an undergraduate institution that confers the degree of Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science after four years of study or an associate degree after two years study. While a university is generally a group of colleges, each serving a special purpose: college of business, college of arts and humanities, college of education, etc. The system of higher education in the United States has three functions: teaching, research and public service. Each college or university has its own emphasis with regard to its functions. The majority of the higher educationinstitutions are located in states that have a large population.

The American higher education institutions offer a wide variety of subjects, from the finearts to practical and career-oriented fields such as engineering and marketing. The United States has a variety of higher education institutions, from large comprehensive universities to small traditional liberal arts colleges. Distinctions among these institutionsare in size, level, educational quality, residential atmosphere and the time it takes to complete a degree.At the undergraduate level, students’personal preferences as to size, academic quality and location play a key role in their choice of college or university. At the graduate level, more attention is paid to the reputation of the faculty and department.

However,all this effort in America’s higher education is very expensive. Some of the costs come from fees and benefactions, particularly towards research, but most have to be paid from public funds. Parents favor big expenditures on higher education;

a wider public opinionfavors them for idealistic and cultural reasons, and because of the supposed value of education as an investment by society.The first universities were developed by private charitable organizations. The private universities are still very important, and most of the best-known institutions, like Harvard, Yale and Princeton, are private.

Most of the principal state universities have between 10, 000 and 30, 000 students,