Higher Education in the USA
МИНИСТЕРСТВО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ
ВОЛГОГРАДСКИЙ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ ТЕХНИЧЕСКИЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ
КАФЕДРА ИНОСТРАННЫХ ЯЗЫКОВ
Семестровая работа за 1 семестр
На тему: Higher education in the USA
Выполнил: студент группы ИВТ-161, Вавилин А.Ю.
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Волгоград 2003
Higher Education in the USA.
Finishing school is the beginning of an independent life for millions of
school graduates. Many roads are open before them. But it is not an easy
thing to choose a profession out of more than the 2000 existing in the
world.
Out of the 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 a 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) high school records;
b) recommendations from high school teachers;
c) the impression they make during interviews at the university;
d) their scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Tests (SAT);
The system of higher education in the United States is complex. It
comprises four categories of institution:
1. The university, which may contain:
- several colleges for undergraduate students seeking a
bachelor’s four-year
degree;
- one or more graduate schools for those continuing in
specialized studies beyond the bachelor’s degree to obtain
a master’s or a doctoral degree;
2. The four-year undergraduate institution – the college – most of
which are not 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. The two-year, or community college, from which students may
enter many professions or may go 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 terms 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 a 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 factors 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. how selective the institution can
be in 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 an 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 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.
Can America’s colleges and universities rest on their accomplishments?
About 12 million students currently attend schools of higher education in
America. They are students in a society that believe in the bond between
education and democracy.
Still, many Americans are not satisfied with the condition of higher
education in their country. Perhaps the most widespread complaint has to do
with the college curriculum as a whole and with the wide range of electives
in particular. In the middle of 1980s, the Association of American Colleges
(AAC) issued a report that called for teaching a body of common knowledge
to all college students. The National Institute of Education (NIE) issued a
somewhat similar report, “Involvement in Learning”. In its report, the NIE
concluded that the college curriculum has become “excessively vocational
and work-related”. The report also warned that college education may no
longer be developing in students “the shared values and knowledge” that
traditionally bind Americans together. A serious charge: Is it true?
For the moment, to some degree, it probably is. Certainly, some students
complete their degree work without a course in Western Civilization – not
to mention other world cultures. Others leave college without having
studied science or government. As one response, many colleges have begun
reemphasizing a core curriculum that all students must master.
Such problems are signs that American higher education is changing, as it
has throughout its history. And, as in the past, this change may be leading
in unexpected directions. The Puritans set up colleges to train ministers.
But their students made their mark as the leaders of the world’s first
constitutional democracy. The land grant colleges were founded to teach
agriculture and engineering to the builders of the American West. Today,
many of these colleges are leading schools in the world of scientific
research. Americans have always had a stake in “making the system work”.
They have especially critical reasons for doing so in the field of
education. People in the United States today are faced with momentous
questions: “What is America’s proper role as the world’s oldest
constitutional democracy; its largest, economy; its first nuclear power?”
Americans cherish their right to express opinions on all such issues. But
the people of the United States are also painfully aware of how complex
such issues are. To take part in dealing with new problems, most Americans
feel they need all the information they can get. Colleges and universities
are the most important centers of such learning. And whatever improvements
may be demanded, their future is almost guaranteed by the American thirst
to advance and be well informed. In fact, the next charge in American
education may be a trend for people to continue their education in college
– for a lifetime.
Высшее образование в США.
Окончание школы - начало независимой жизни для миллионов молодых людей,
получивших дипломы. Множество дорог открыто перед ними. Но не так легко
выбрать профессию из более двух тысяч существующих в мире.
Из более трех миллионов учащихся, оканчивающих ежегодно среднюю школу,
приблизительно один миллион продолжает получать высшее образование. Просто,
поступая в один из наиболее престижных университетов Соединенных Штатов,
выпускники средней школы достигают большего успеха. Колледж как ведущий
университет мог бы принимать заявления от двух процентов выпускников
средней школы, и затем принимать только одного из каждых десяти
поступающих. Для успешного поступления в такие колледжи претенденты обычно
выбираются на основании следующих показателей:
а) высоких оценок в средней школе;
б) рекомендаций от преподавателей средней школы;
в) впечатления, которое они производят на собеседовании в университете;
г) их баллов в интеллектуальных тестах - Scholastic Aptitude Tests
(SAT);
Система высшего образования в Соединенных Штатах сложна. Она включает
четыре вида учреждений:
1. Университет, который может включать:
- несколько колледжей для поступивших студентов, претендующих на
четырехлетнюю степень бакалавра;
- одну или более школ для продолжения специализированного
обучения выше степени бакалавра, чтобы стать специалистом или получить
докторскую степень;
2. Четырехлетнее образовательное учреждение – колледж, большинство из
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