The System of Higher Education

Out of more than three million students who graduate from high school each year, about one million go on for “higher education”. Simply by being admitted into one of the most respected universities in the United States, a high school graduate achieves a degree of success. A college at leading university might receive applications from two percent of these high school graduates, and then accept only one out of every ten who apply.

Successful applicants at such colleges are usually chosen on the basis of (a) their high school records; (b) recommendations from their high school teachers; (c) the impression they make during interviews at the university and (d) their scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Tests (SATs).

The system of higher education in the United States is complex. It comprises four categories of institutions: (1) the university, which may contain (a) several colleges for undergraduate students seeking a bachelor’s (four-year) degree and (b) one or more graduate schools for those continuing in specialized studies beyond the bachelor’s degree to obtain a master’s or doctoral degree; (2) the four-year undergraduate institution – the colleges – most of each are non part of a university; (3) the technical training institution, at which high school graduates may take courses ranging from six months to four years in duration and learn a wide variety of technical skills, from hair styling through business accounting to computer programming; (4) and the two-year, or community college, from which students may enter many professions or may transfer to four-year colleges or universities.

Any of these institutions, in any category, might be either public or private, depending on the source of its funding. There is no clear or inevitable distinction in term of quality of education offered between the institutions which are publicly or privately funded. However, this is not to say that all institutions enjoy equal prestige nor that there are no material differences among them.

Many universities and colleges, both public and private, have gained reputations for offering particularly challenging courses and for providing their students with the higher quality of education. The great majority are generally regarded as quite satisfactory. A few other institutions, conversely, provide only adequate education, and students attend classes, pass exami­nations and graduate as merely competent, but not outstanding, scholars and professionals. The factor determining whether an institution is one of the best or one of lower prestige are quality of teaching faculty, quality of research facilities; amount of funding available for libraries, special programs, etc.; and the competence and number of applicants for admission, i.e., choosing its students. All of these factors reinforce one another.

In the United States it is generally recognized that there are more and less desirable institutions in which to study and from which to graduate. The more desirable institutions are generally – but not always – more costly to attend, and having graduated from one of them may bring distinct advantages as the individual seeks employment opportunities and social mobility within the society. Competition to get into such a college prompts a million secondary school students to take the SATs every year. But recently emphasis on admissions examinations has been widely criticized in the United States because the examinations tend to measure only competence in mathematics and English. In defense of using the examinations as criteria for admissions, administrators at many universities say that SATs provide a fair way for deciding whom to admit when they have 10 or 12 applicants for every first-year student seat. The United States leads all industry nations in the proportion of its young men and women who receive higher education.

Americans place a high value on higher education. This is an attitude that goes back to the country’s oldest political traditions. People in the United States have always believed that education is necessary for maintaining a democratic government. They believe that it prepares the individual for informed, intelligent political participation, including voting.

In addition to idealistic reasons for going to college, however, most Americans are concerned with earning a good (or better) income. For some careers – law, medicine, education, engineering – a college education is a necessary first step. Some careers do not require going to college, but many young Americans believe that having a degree will help them to obtain a higher salary on their first job. Today, that first job is likely to involve handing information: More than 60 per cent of Americans now work, as teachers, computer programmers, secretaries, lawyers, bankers, and in other job involving the discovery, exchange and use of data (facts). A high-school diploma is not sufficient preparation for most such employment.

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