The United States Educational Structure

Other pressures also operate at the university level. Most universities require mid-semester and final (end-of-semester) examinations. It is possible, as a great many students have learned, to "flunk out" of a university that is to be asked to leave because of poor grades. And most students who have scholarships must maintain a certain grade average to keep their scholarships.

Since tuition fees alone can be rather high (ranging from some $20,000 for an academic year at Harvard, Yale or Stanford to under $ 1,000 at small public institutions) at most colleges and universities, a large number of students hold jobs besides studying. These part-time jobs may be either "on campus" (in the dormitories, cafeterias, students services, in research, and in teaching and tutoring jobs) or "off campus" (with local firms and businesses, in offices, etc.). In this way, for example, more than half of all students at Stanford University earn a significant part of their college expenses during the school year. In addition, there are work-study programs at a number of universities, and financial assistance programs, which are provided by the states and the federal government. At Michigan State University, for instance, 50 percent of all students receive some form of financial aid through the university, and 85 percent of undergraduate students worked part-time on campus during the academic year 1991-92. At Harvard, 74 percent of beginning students ("freshmen") and 61 percent of continuing students received financial aid in the 1991 -92 academic year. The average award for the 66 percent of beginning students receiving aid at Stanford was $13,600 per year. Students who must work as well as study are the rule rather than the exception. Students also cannot simply move from one university to another, or trade places with other students. Before changing to another university, students must first have been accepted by the new university and have met that university's admission requirements.

The competition and pressures at many universities, especially at the higher, graduate levels, are not pleasant. Nor are they evident in the popular picture of campus life. However, this system has been highly successful in producing scholars who are consistently at the top or near the top of their fields internationally. One indication of this can be seen by looking at the textbooks or professional journals used and read in foreign universities and noting the authors, where they teach and where they were trained. Another indication, less precise perhaps, is the number of Americans who have won Nobel Prizes. Americans have won 168 Nobel Prizes in the science alone-physics, chemistry, and physiology or medicine - since the awards were first given in 1901. This represents over 40 percent of all recipients. The next closest country is Great Britain, with 69 Nobel Prizes. If most Americans are very critical of their educational system at the elementary and secondary school levels, many will also admit that their higher education system is "in many respects, the best in the world."

Не знайшли потрібну інформацію? Скористайтесь пошуком google:

Генерація сторінки за: 0.007 сек.