Public Universities Generally speaking, public universities are state universities, which are established by 50 states and operate independently. Each state's public education has its own operating system, with different admission standards, tuition fees and degree awarding standards.
The funds of public universities mainly come from the distribution of state taxes, and the federal government will also give various subsidies. Although public universities will also get a lot of money from alumni donations, most of the running funds of public universities come from taxpayers. Residents or permanent residents (green card holders) in this state only need to pay a small tuition fee.
State (in-state tuition), its amount is very low, generally ranging from several thousand dollars to one or two thousand dollars. Out-of-state students and international students attending a state university in a certain state need to pay tuition twice, that is, in the state.
Tuition (in-state tuition) and out-of-state tuition (out-of-state tuition). Among them, out-of-state tuition is much higher than in-state tuition, generally more than 20 thousand to 40 thousand dollars
It is worth mentioning that sometimes several neighboring or friendly States unite to form a state alliance in terms of tuition treatment, and students from the state alliance can enjoy the tuition treatment of any state university in the state alliance.
Private universities and private schools, like public schools, tuition is only a part of the school's financial resources, but it is definitely not the main part of its financial resources. Private universities are mainly funded by donations from alumni and the investment and operation of these donations. In the ranking of American universities, the amount of funds will also become one of the important factors.
Private universities in the United States will not let the donations of alumni and consortia idle, so they will hire experienced investment consultants to operate these funds, so that they can maintain high returns, and the income from their investment will even exceed the expenses needed for the full operation of the school. Therefore, the capital reserve of private schools has been on the rise. Even in the years when the economic recession led to a decline in donations, their huge capital reserves were enough to ensure the normal operation of scientific research and teaching in schools.
Tuition fees in private universities are usually much higher than those in public schools. For American students, the gap is several times or even higher, and for international students, the gap may be as high as two or three times.
Comments: American private education is very developed. The eight most famous Ivy League universities are all private universities. American public universities and private universities coexist. Public and private universities are not the criteria for judging schools. The idea of American universities is that the money of public universities is "taken from taxpayers and returned to taxpayers"; The money of private universities is "taken from alumni and returned to alumni".
American universities can be divided into public and private universities, and can also be divided into national universities according to the differences in degrees offered.
University), college of arts and sciences, community college.
Comprehensive University Comprehensive universities are public and private. It usually includes undergraduate departments, graduate schools, business schools, law schools, medical schools, etc. Most majors graduate in four years and generally offer a variety of degrees, including undergraduate, master and doctoral degrees. Comprehensive universities are usually large in scale, with a large number of students, and the maximum number is as high as 50,000 to 60,000. It has a large scale, complete facilities, abundant funds and teachers, rich books, well-equipped research rooms and laboratories, more detailed specialties, high attention to academic research, high international reputation and rich campus activities.
In fact, undergraduate education provided by many comprehensive universities is also liberal arts education.
LAC), for example, when you applied to Harvard and Yale University, you actually applied to Harvard College and Yale College.
College), which is the undergraduate department of Harvard University and Yale University.
However, there are also some shortcomings: the number of comprehensive universities in the United States is generally relatively large, so the graduation period may be extended due to the lack of courses, with hundreds or even thousands of classes. Many courses in comprehensive universities are taught by graduate students. Especially in the first two years of general education courses in universities, most of them are taught by teaching assistants, and students often have no contact with professors and cannot get direct guidance from professors. Professors in schools are often under the pressure of continuous research, so they will pay less attention to teaching and care about students.
Most liberal arts colleges are private, and only a few are public. They offer four-year undergraduate education courses and award undergraduate degrees after graduation. Liberal arts colleges usually downplay majors and attach importance to the cultivation of ability and quality. Master's or doctor's degrees are generally not provided.
liberal education
) is one of the important types of American universities, mainly undergraduate education. This kind of university education includes three parts: natural science, social science and humanities.
(humanities), focusing on free education, generalist education and quality training. The faculty of this college is very strong, and the teachers are basically professors. Professors in colleges of arts and sciences can focus on undergraduate teaching instead of balancing the teaching and research problems of undergraduates, master students and doctoral students, so that they can devote more energy to teaching and tutoring students, and students can get more personal attention.
The small scale of the campus and the large number of students make the teacher-student ratio excellent, and the class size is small, which is basically a small class of about 10. You can ask the professor directly. Any student has the opportunity to communicate with the best professors. It is this privilege that benefits students a lot. The teacher-student ratio is one of the important indicators of a university. Usually, the smaller the teacher-student ratio, the better. In the eyes of most Americans, liberal arts colleges often represent classic, small-scale and high-quality undergraduate education. The academic reputation of many liberal arts colleges is often no less than that of comprehensive universities such as Harvard and Yale.
However, there are also some shortcomings: the majors in liberal arts colleges are often not as extensive and detailed as those in comprehensive universities, and there are no applied and professional disciplines, such as electronic engineering, mechanical engineering, accounting, business administration and so on. At the same time, the concept of LAC is generalist education and quality training, not vocational training.
Tuition is expensive and the admission rate is low.
Community College Two-year community colleges are mostly public and organized by local communities, so they are generally called community colleges. The courses offered by community colleges can be roughly divided into two categories: one is a transitional liberal arts course, which is equivalent to the first two years of a four-year university. After studying, students can transfer to a four-year university or college for further study. Many credits are recognized by universities, but generally more are recognized by four-year universities in the state; The other kind is professional vocational and technical courses, and graduates are directly employed after graduation.
Community colleges and four-year universities in this state implement the "2+2" transfer system, and most community colleges also have transfer agreements with four-year universities, which can be used as a springboard to enter four-year universities or liberal arts colleges. Generally speaking, the entry threshold of community colleges is very low, and the admission requirements of community colleges for international students are also very low, and some also offer language courses. Simple entrance conditions, no age limit, small class education; Flexible study time: full-time, half-day, weekend and night school courses are available; The study period is short, the fees are low, and courses are offered according to regional needs to facilitate employment.
But it also has its shortcomings: teaching facilities and teachers are relatively weak; Students and teachers are highly mobile; The quality of students is also uneven.