The USA is one of the top destinations to attract international students from all around the world. Around 1.08 million international students get admitted to the top universities in the USA. More than 4000 courses and universities in the U.S.Aprovides children with world-class education.
Education System in the U.S.A
US Education system is known for its flexibility. Students studying in us are not limited to a rigid coursework. From Admission cycles to the types of institutions to choose from, the US education system provides flexible options in everything. This is one of the greatest reasons why many international students come to study in the U.S.A.
US universities offer admissions to students three times a year. Students who couldn’t take admissions in the fall semester can catch up the same year by taking admission in the spring semester. Also, the 3 types of institutions i.e. 4-year Public Universities, 4-4year private universities, and Community colleges offer a plethora of choices to students.
Students can choose from any of the 3 institutions considering different factors without compromising on the equality of education.
Students earn credits in each semester and these credits can be transferred from one institution to another. Many students take admission into community colleges and transfer to 4-year universities after completing 2 years of their education.
Also every year more than a million students from Non-US institutions transfer to US universities owing to the flexible credit transfer system in the US.
Levels of US Higher Education System
There are main 3 levels in the US Higher education system. These are
- Undergraduate Level
- Graduate Level
- Post Graduate Level
Undergraduate Level- Bachelor’s Degree
Earning a Bachelor’s degree typically takes 4 years to complete. In the USA, one can pursue a bachelor’s degree by admitting to a 4-year college or starting from community college and later can transfer to a 4-year college.
Students have to study a number of subjects in the first two years of their bachelor’s degree such as Literature, science, art, history etc. The focus is on attaining general and basic knowledge about each subject before attaining specialization in a specific subject in the following 2 years.
Majors in which one wants to attain a degree in is chosen at the beginning of 3rdyear. American Education system is quite flexible. Students can change majors multiple times during their graduate studies. This might mean spending more money.
Graduate Level- Master’s and Professional Degree
A master’s degree is very important to attain higher-level positions in career fields such as library science, engineering, behavioral health, and education. Also, international students from some countries are only permitted to study in the USA at a graduate level after completing the required credits in their home country.
A few entrance tests are required to be taken for entering a graduate program in USA such as GRE for master’s programs, LSAT for Law courses, GMAT for MBA programs.
The graduate program for a Master’s degree usually takes 1-2 years to complete. For example, the MBA program is about two years long. Other Master’s programs take only one year such as Master’s in Journalism.
Students pursuing a master’s program in the USA are required to work on a research paper called a Master’s thesis or Master’s project as a part of their curriculum.
Post Graduate Level- Ph.D. and Research work
Earning a Ph.D. degree in the USA requires a graduate degree in some schools, but some schools allow pursuing a doctorate degree immediately after the bachelor’s degree. Usually, it takes 3-4 years to complete a doctorate degree. International students, on the hand, might need 5-6 six years to complete the same degree.