There are approximately 1,700 public universities and about 2,500 private universities in the country. Universities in America are often called colleges, and in everyday life the name “school” is common.
There are no uniform requirements for admission to universities in the country. Admission can be based on the results of competitive exams, interviews, and testing. Many universities actively work in schools, offering college subjects in high school. Talented athletes (who can be accepted without taking into account academic success), winners of Olympiads, and veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have advantages in admission.
Higher education institutions are not free and are only partially supported by state funds. Universities are supported by charitable foundations and wealthy trustees, which allows the latter to influence university affairs. This does not prevent universities from accepting huge funds to carry out research on government orders (usually of military significance). Since the training of specialists is not planned on a national scale, universities sometimes graduate specialists in excess. At the same time, a significant portion of specialists come from abroad due to the “brain drain”.
The cost of education at prestigious private universities is extremely high – from 30 to 80 thousand dollars per year for a bachelor’s degree (data for 2012).
The training takes place in two stages. To obtain a bachelor’s degree, you need to study for 4 years, a master’s degree – 2 years. Often, a master’s degree is obtained several years later and at a different university. The next stage is admission to graduate school and the defense of a dissertation.
American higher education is considered one of the best in the world. US universities consistently occupy high places in world rankings. 40% of students are foreigners, who after completing their studies can find work in the United States within a year. Although most have to leave the country after the end of their studies, American companies give the best ones a visa and – sometimes – a residence permit [4]. According to Zbigniew Brzezinski, “America has become a Mecca for those seeking a modern education; “approximately half a million foreign students flock to the United States, with many of the brightest never returning home. Graduates of American universities can be found in almost every government on every continent.”[8] Despite the success of universities, secondary education has a number of problems.[9] According to the US Secretary of Education, the school system is stagnating and losing out in competition with other countries. The country was ranked 18th out of 36 by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Approximately 25% of students fail to graduate on time and fail exams. Barack Obama’s multi-billion dollar Race to the Top reform is aimed at solving these problems.