American education system is very different from the education system in Asian countries. It offers the most diverse set of education options--a student is able to pursue anything from medicine to art. The possibilities are almost endless!
Degrees
The bachelor's degree is the traditional degree given by American undergraduate colleges and universities. It formally requires at least four years but not more than five years of full-time college level coursework. The two most common classes of bacheclor's degrees awarded in U.S. schools are the bachelor of science degree (B.S.) and the bachelor of arts degree (B.A.). To get into this particular program, a student must have completed high school and must have completed coursework that is equivalent to what is taught at an American high school. Undergraduate schools offer either a two-year degree (associate degree) or a four-year degree (bachelor's degree) in a specific course of study referred to as your "major." All students are required to select (or declare) a major by their second year at school.
One of the most attractive features of the bachelor's degree program in the United States is that it is highly flexible. You can usually choose from a wide variety of courses and create your own unique program of study--this is specially good for students who are working while attending school. They are able to schedule their courses depending on their work schedule.
The degree is awarded after you complete a specified number of credits, which are usually completed in four years of full-time study. The first year is called the freshman year; the second year is called sophomore; the third, junior; and the fourth, senior. Courses taken during the freshman and sophomore years are known as lover division, and courses taken in the final two years are called upper division courses. College catalogs usually assign a number to a course, which indicates the level of study as follows:
100 - 199 Freshman
200 - 299 Sophomore
300 - 399 Junior
400 - 499 Senior
Academic Calendar
The academic calendar year normally runs from early September to the end of May. It may be divided into two terms of 18 weeks called semesters. Alternatively, the university may have "quarters" or "trimesters," which are about 12 weeks in lenght. In addition, universities very often provide six-to-eight-week summer terms. These are optonal, and students attend if they wish to go through their degree faster, to decrease their course load during the regular terms, or to make up courses not completed successfully during the regular academic year. There are at least two main holidays during the academic year: a two-to four-week break in the winter (December-January) and a one-week "spring break" sometime between early March and mid-April.
The Credit System
Students at American universities complete their degrees when they have accumulated a certain number of "credits." It usually takes somewhere between 130 and 180 credits to graduate. Each course taken during the semester earns a specified number (usually 3 or 4) of credits/hours/units.
Degree Courses
Individual courses that make up the degree program can be divided into the following types:
Core Courses - provide the foundation of the degree program and are required of all students. Students take a variety of courses in mathematics, English, humanities, physical sciences, and social sciences. Some colleges require students to take many core courses, while other schools require only a few.
Major Courses - are the subjects in which the student chooses to concentrate. Most students major in one subject: however, some colleges offer the option of pursuing double major with a related subject.
Minor Courses - is a subject in which a student may choose to take the second greatest concentration of courses. The number of courses required for a minor tends to be half the number of major courses.
Elective Courses - these courses may be chosen from any department. They offer opportunities to explore other topics or subjects you may be interested in and help make up the total number of credits required to graduate.
There are various types of schools that offer bachelor's degree programs. The different types of US schools offering bachelor's degrees can be classified into the categories that are described below.
Public Universities - these schools are operated by a state governement and are financed by public funds. They are also called state universities and sometimes have the word "state" in their names. The tuition charged by these schools is typically much lower for students who are residents of the state where the school is located. Students who are residents of other states and international students will pay higher tuition fees.
Private Universities - these schools are operated by private individuals and are financed by private funds. These schools are not controlled by any government agency and also offer bachelor's degrees. Tuition at private schools is normally much higher that at public schools. Students pay the same amount of tuition regardless if they are Americans or International students.