You are here:
Types of US Universities
Many people get confused by the different terminology but basically the terms Colleges, Universities, Institutes or even School are inter changeable for a degree-granting institution in the United States and colleges and institutes are in no way inferior to universities. Colleges tend to be smaller and usually offer only undergraduate degrees, while a university also offers graduate degrees.
Within each college or university you will find schools, such as the school of arts and sciences or the school of business. Each school is responsible for the degree programs offered by the college or university in that area of study.
There are four major post-high school institutions that offer further education in the US. They are as follows:
A UNIVERSITY is an institution of higher learning that usually maintains one or more four-year undergraduate programmes leading to a Bachelor's degree in the arts or sciences (BA or BSc). In addition, a university often has graduate programmes leading to Master degrees and Doctorates (Ph.D.'s).
State Universities
State universities are founded and subsidized by U.S. state governments (eg, Georgia, San Diego, or Michigan) to provide low-cost education to residents of that state. They may also be called public universities to distinguish them from private institutions. State universities tend to be very large, with enrolments of 20,000 or more students, and generally admit a wider range of students than private universities. State university tuition costs are generally lower than those of private universities.
Private Universities
Private institutions are funded by a combination of endowments, tuition fees, research grants, and gifts from their alumni. Tuition fees tend to be higher at private universities than at state universities, but there is no distinction made between state and non-state residents. Colleges with a religious affiliation and single-sex colleges are private. In general, private universities have enrolments of fewer than 20,000 students, and private colleges may have 2,000 or fewer students on their campuses.
Campus Universities
Most US institutions have centralised campuses that is the hub of student life, where students study, live, work and socialise with one another. Large institutions sometimes have a decentralised or multi-campus system with numerous satellite campuses. In some cases, these satellites will focus on one aspect of study, for example having medical facilities at one location and undergraduate facilities at another. Campuses are made up of administrative offices, residence and dining halls, recreation space, classroom buildings and arts space clustered together. Institutions in rural environments and small towns are frequently very centralised, and in many cases the institution provides the focal point of local life. When discussing possibilities of different institutions it is necessary to consider the type of campus that your child would benefit from and the environment they prefer to live in. Don’t get fixated with the big locations like New York or California. The real offers are with lesser known locations which can provide excellent facilities and quality of Education.
A COLLEGE is again synonymous to "university", an institution of higher learning that offers undergraduate programmes, usually four years in duration, which lead to a BA or BSc.
A COMMUNITY, TECHNICAL OR TWO-YEAR COLLEGE is an institution of higher learning that offers programmes of up to two years duration leading to an Associate's degree in the arts or sciences (AA or AS) or to a technical degree. Credits earned at a community or junior college are usually transferable to a four-year institution. Students on a two-year programme prepare for semi-professional or technical employment. Community and junior colleges usually require a secondary school diploma or its equivalent.
International students often overlook the two-year or community colleges in the US. Community colleges are a great way to study in the US and should be taken into consideration as an option by your child. Entrance requirements are less competitive and admission is available up until the semester begins. Costs are more affordable and the size of classes smaller. Depending on the state, the reputation of some two-year colleges surpasses those of the four-year institutions. The two-year colleges in the US only offer an "Associate's Degree", usually considered to be the first half of a BA or BSc which is what students will get from a four-year institution. Since studying in the US at university level can be very expensive, many students choose to do their first two years of study at a two-year college, and then transfer their credits to a four-year institution for their last two years.
The Standard of Universities in the InTuition consortium
The 120 or so participants in the International Scholarship Consortium are all good accredited Universities. They represent a mixture of State Universities, Colleges and private Universities. To put them into context of the UK system might help. If you categorise the UK Universities into 4 bands: Band A being Oxbridge, B being Russell Group, C the Red Brick and D the old Polytechnics then if you applied a similar criteria to the US Universities then cross section equivalent would place our Universities in Bands B and C. The consortium is not Ivy League and does not set out to be. Securing a scholarship in an Ivy League or even the NESCAC schools like Amherst, Bowdoin, Middlebury and Williams is incredibly difficulty to do and probably only available to exceptionally high fliers.
