The Linguistic Culture-10 (Education and Science in the USA) (1157936), страница 2
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One million of these students are in theirlast year of high school. Another million are in their next-to-last year. The ACT, istaken every year by millions h of high school leavers in the western part of theU.S. With so many different types of high schools and programs, and with so manydifferences in subjects and standards, these tests provide common, nationwidemeasuring of knowledge.Higher Education.According to American statistics over 41 percent of high school leavers apply tocolleges and universities.
Every year, about 12 million Americans are enrolled inthe over 3,000 colleges and universities of every type: private, public, churchrelated, small and large, in cities, counties, and states. Close to 80 percent of thecollege students attend public or state institutions while a little over 20 percent areenrolled in privately supported universities and colleges. Every state in the USmaintains at least one institution of university rank. Programs in them are oftenadapted to serve local needs. State universities provide opportunities of highereducation usually at a cost considerably below the cost of education in privateinstitutions and the educational fees are lower in them. Each state has the right tofound new public or private institutions of higher education within its borders.The Types of Higher Educational Institutions:In the USA there is no clear definition of the term "institution of highereducation".
The institutions, which provide higher education, do not constituteany coordinate system and are not controlled by any centralized national authorityIn principle, any educational institution offering further training after leavinghigh school, the so-called "post-secondary educational institution” may bereferred to as Higher Educational Institution. The only criterion to determinethe nature of any U.S. institution may be a qualitative level of it.Of the nation’s 1,900 institutions of higher learning roughly one-third arestate or city institutions. About 1,200 are privately controlled or controlled byreligious groups. The others are vocational or junior colleges.Junior Colleges (The world “college” refers either to an independent institutionoffering undergraduate education or to a part of a university). These institutions ofhigher education or so-called “cow” colleges offer only two-year programs.
Thefirst program of the “cow” colleges leads to a vocational, professional work (shopwork, office work, nurses, mechanics, police, etc.), the other one gives a chance totransfer to a four-year college at the end of two years.Colleges of Liberal Arts generally offer four year education beyond thesecondary school level. Their programs are aimed at providing a broad educationalbase in history, science, philosophy, languages and culture.
Students choosespecialization or concentration in one particular field during the third and fourthyears of the program.Specialized Institutions are usually institutions of technology, teacher trainingcolleges, art schools, and other specialized institutions. They emphasize intensiveconcentration in a specialty as contrasted with the board range of liberal artscolleges. The course of study typically emphasizes technical, scientific, orengineering aspects of knowledge in the field.A University. An American university consists of a number of schools andcolleges (such as College of Arts and Sciences or a College of Engineering, etc.).There are two levels: the undergraduate school and the graduate school groupedtogether in one educational system.
Some of the universities are private; others arerun by the state.Despite the development of a network of state universities, privateuniversities continue to play a very significant role in the formation ofscientificandeducationalpotentialoftheUnitedStates.In the US there is a group of private leading universities dramaticallydifferent in its characteristics from all other universities of the country.
Theyare: University of California-Berkeley, Mitt, Stanford, Wisconsin, Michigan,Illinois, Harvard, Cornell, Washington university. University of California Los Angeles, Columbia, Yale, Chicago, Pennsylvania, Princeton Universityand California Institute of technology. These universitiesare theundisputed leaders in education and science of the USA and determine thequalitative contribution of higher education in the development of scientifictechnicalandeconomicpotentialofthecountry.Acceptance into universityAcceptance into university is based on a written application, submission of atranscript showing all courses and results in previously-attended educationalinstitutions,evidencethatthestudentsatisfactorilycompletedallrequirements at the previously-attended institution, and sometimes an oralinterview or written resume at the school which the student desires to attend.Different schools of higher learning may have different standards of acceptance:some may require excellent grades on the S.A.T., while others may have less strictrequirements.
In higher education and especially in very prestigious universitiesthe U.S.A has a selective system of admission.At the undergraduate level universities may have several divisions - colleges ofliberal arts, a school of business or engineering or applied science, etc. A studentusually enrolls in one undergraduate division, but he may take courses in morethan one of these.Students are classified as freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors. Afreshmen is a first year student, a sophomore, a second year student, a junior, athird year student, and a senior, a fourth year student.Most undergraduate students must take classes in English, Math, History, andscience.
They choose a major (specialize) in a subject such as business, education,or art in their third year of college or after they have completed half of theircourse work. In order to receive any degree from the University students mustcomplete a survey course in American History or American Government.To graduate from a university requires a student to complete requirements of theuniversity, to achieve the minimum allowable grade in the required courses, and tocollect the required number of so-called credits.
There is wide variation in therequirements depending on the university. In general, universities and collegesrequire students to fulfill a set of general requirements applicable to all students atthe school (specialization), as well as fulfilling the specific requirements for theirmajor field of study. For example, at Haverford College they require 32 creditsfor graduation, 1 credit being awarded for each course taken and passed persemester. So, 4 credits per semester and 2 semesters per year equal 8 credits peryear. Four years of college education multiplied by 8 credits per year equals 32credits, or the amount needed to graduate.
However, the Linguistics Departmentrequires 10 credits of linguistics courses. As a result, it is necessary to fulfill bothrequirements before being allowed to graduate, i.e. pass 32 credits of courses.In addition, most universities require a minimum grade-point average before astudent is allowed to graduate.There are four principal types of academic degrees, each representing a differentlevel of academic achievement:The bachelor’s (baccalaureate) degree is the oldest academic degree used invarious forms by almost every institution. A full-time undergraduate degree inuniversities usually takes four years.
Many students study part-time and work, soit may take them much longer time to finish. Some students first take an associate’sdegree at “cow” or liberal colleges, where the tuition fees are lower and study twomore years at university to complete their bachelor’s degree. Some graduatestudents receive grants, which cover the cost of their education; a person on such afellowship is called a university fellow or a grantee.All students who have graduated and received the bachelor’s degree are classifiedas graduate students.
Their transcript of grades is submitted with all applicationsto graduate schools.The most common master’s degree program represents a minimum of 1 year ofwork beyond the baccalaureate. In certain areas this has been extended to 2 yearsof required graduate study (e.g. in business administration) or even 3 years (e.g. infine arts). It may also involve one or all of the following additional requirements: athesis, a general examination, and mastery of a foreign language. The master’sdegree candidate follows a rather specific course of study, usually in a single fieldand arranged in cooperation with his adviser.Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) is one of the more rapidly growing; it isdesigned to prepare liberal arts graduate for secondary school teaching.
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