Higher Education in the United States

Higher education in the United States stands for every type of formal education after the secondary level. Though the expression "college" is frequently applied to denote any institute offering higher education, a college is basically a 4 year undergraduate school

that confers bachelor's degrees. A college might or might not be a branch of a university that is made up of undergraduate college, as well as one or more graduate schools. Graduate schools are parts of universities that confer a broad range of degrees at the postgraduate and doctoral levels.

The United States Department of Education supervises the entire higher educational system of the country. It was established in 1980.

There is no countrywide university system in the United States. Nevertheless, there are numerous public and private institutions with distinct academic rules and regulations, departmental composition, calendars as well as course programs. National and regional organizations set up benchmarks for higher education and recognize schools which fulfill those benchmarks.

In the United States, higher education is provided by various business schools, law schools, engineering schools, criminal justice schools, educational schools and medical schools.

Getting an opportunity to study in the U.S. is really attractive for the following reasons:

1) Choice of subjects

2) Quality of education

3) Value for money

4) Flexibility in selection of course programs

Graduate Degree Programs:

In the U.S., graduate degree programs typically adopt a broad-based pattern. Postgraduate programs focus on a specific field of study. Doctoral programs usually span two years. Every postgraduate and doctoral program is all-inclusive in nature and needs a lot of preparation for a substantial time period. The eligibility criteria are also made quite stringent in order to check the student's understanding of the subject. Master's degree programs can be categorized into thesis and non-thesis programs whereas a dissertation is mandatory for doctoral programs.

Coordinating Departments of the Government:

Following are names of some of the important government coordination departments dealing with higher education in the United States:

*Alabama Commission on Higher Education

*Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board

*Washington State Higher Education Coordinating Board

*California post secondary education commission

*The Georgia Department of Technical and Adult Education

Names of Prominent Universities in the United States:

Following are names of some of the well-known universities in the United States:

*Stanford University

*Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

*Harvard University

*Columbia University

*Yale University

*University of Washington

*University of Southern California

*Cornell University

*Carnegie Mellon University

*Texas A&M University

*Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

*University of Pennsylvania

*California Institute of Technology

*Purdue University

*Duke University

*New York University

*University of Florida