Transcript American System of Education

Studying in America: American System of Education
Presented by Richard
Kaburente
INFORMATION RESOURCE
CENTER
AMERICAN EMBASSY KIGALI
E-mail: [email protected]
Why study in American Universities?
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Here are some few of the reasons why more than
600.000 international students from around the world
are furthering their education in American Universities.
1. The quality of their facilities, resources and faculty.
2. The possibility of choosing the subjects in which you
can specialized.
3. The flexibility in choice of courses within Colleges or
Universities.
There is an option for students to move between one
College and another.
Colleges, Universities, Institutes
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Distinction
Degree – granting institutions in the United – States can
be called by any of these terms.
* Colleges tend to be smaller and usually offer only
undergraduate degrees.
* Universities offer also Graduate degrees.
* Institutes are usually specialized in degree programs in
a group of closely related subject areas.
Bachelor’s degree and Associate degree
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A bachelor degree takes 4 years to complete
An associate degree takes 2 years to complete. It may
be Terminal Program or Transfer Program.
Community Colleges
They are community – based institution with closed links to
local secondary schools, community groups.
 They provide 2 year associate degree programs usually
called the Associate of Arts (A.A) or Associate of
Science (A.S) as well as excellent Technical and
Vocational Programs.
 They are very attractive (40% of the U.S. undergraduate
students can be found in the classrooms of these
Colleges.
 Are highly cost effective
 The TOEFL requirement is often lower
 Useful website: Community College Information and
Links – Listed by State
Technical and Vocational Colleges
They specialized in preparing students for entry into the world of work. They
offer certificate and other short – term programs that train students in how to
work with the technology.
DISTANCE EDUCATION
It is an increasingly popular way to study for everything from a short
professional course to a graduate degree in the United – States. Students no
longer attend classes in a classroom on a campus. Classes are delivered from a
distance through the use of technologies such as the Internet, video
conferencing.
Some Online College Guides
www.collegeprowler.com
www.unigo.com,
www.communiversity.com
www.campusbuddy.com,
Non – degree study at a U.S. College
Non – degree study at a U.S. College
If you want to study in the United – States or experience life on a campus while
improving your knowledge of certain subjects, you should write to colleges,
explain your situation and request information on applying for Special student
or Non – degree student status.
The Credit system
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Each individual course you take earns a specific number (usually three or four) of
credits. It usually takes between 130 and 180 credits to graduate.
Degree Courses
The individual courses that make up the degree program can be divided into the
following types:
Core Courses: required of all students. Students take a variety of courses in
Mathematics, English, Humanities, Physics Sciences and Social Sciences
Major Courses: the subject in which a student chooses to concentrate
Minor Courses: the subject in which a student may choose to take the second greatest
concentration of course.
Elective Courses: They offer opportunity to explore other topics or subjects you may
interested in and help make up the total number of credits required to graduate.
American school Grading scale
The following is general percentage – letter grade scale for classes taken at American
Universities:
100 – 90% = A
89 –80 %= B
69 – 60% =D
59 – 50% =E
49 – 0% =F
What is a GPA ?
GPA stands for Grade Average Point. A cumulative grade point average is the GPA for all
courses taken throughout the degree program. Most universities use a GPA scale of 4.0
but few universities use a G PA scale of 5.0.
To work out your GPA, take numerical value assigned to the letter grade you achieve for each
course (typically 4 points for an A, 3 points for a B and son on), then multiply this
number by number of credits of credits each course is worth. Finally, add these numbers
together and divide by the total number of credits for all courses.
For example:
Letter
Grade
Numerical
Value
Number of
Credits
Total
A
4.0
3
12
B
3.0
3
9
C
2.0
3
6
TOTAL 9
27
27 divided by 9 = 3.0 GPA
Accreditation and Admission
It is important to ensure or verify the accreditation of a University in
which you are interested.
To confirm the accreditation of any US University, go to www.chea.org,
click on databases and directories, click to agree to terms, and then
enter the name of the school in the spaces indicated.
To apply to a U.S bachelor’s degree program, you must have a
secondary school diploma or examination results from your home
country.
You must be at least 17 years of age.
*Many, but no all, colleges or Universities require international
applicants to take an admission test such as TOEFL, SAT, ACT
Most of the time the admission begins in March or April
Here is a list of colleges and universities that don’t consider the use
of standardized tests.
http://www.fairtest.org/university/optional
TUITION AND FEES
*Tuition is the cost of instruction
*Fees are charged for services such as the
Library, student activities, or the health
care.
Useful websites
http://scholarshipamerica.org/open_scholarships.php
www.fundingusstudy.org
www.collegeboard.com
www.NAACP.org/youth/scholarships
http://www.farescholarships.com/