Types of higher educational institutional

Community, junior and technical colleges offer academic program comparable to first 2 years of the university and can be applied to 4-year college degree. Their 2-year programs are intended to prepare students for immediate employment.

4-year colleges and universities although are not identical terms, are often used interchangeably. There’s no legal or official control over the institution option one or the other as its name. Colleges may offer undergraduate program, or they may be a part of the university. University normally offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees. The difference is that a university offers research and often includes professional schools, different research centers, colleges of arts and sciences and even some kind of graduate schools. Many colleges and most universities offer advanced courses leading to a master’s or doctor’s degree. Most universities have professional schools (some schools which provide training and award degrees in, say, business, dentistry, education, engineering). Students usually complete some kind of college work before gaining admission. Some professional schools are not connected to universities but have some professional degrees. Liberal arts colleges emphasize excellence in teaching basic subjects, like humanities, natural sciences, social sciences and languages.

Most public colleges and universities are state-run institutions. State boards of higher education provide funds for them and supervise their programs of instruction. Most state governments establish systems of higher education.

State governments establish system of higher education such as the state university of California system. These are groups of interconnected colleges and university campuses. A campus is not just a dormitory, but also different facilities of sports activities, libraries, research centers, catering facilities, etc.

Separate professional schools

Private universities and the Ivy League

The most prestigious universities were founded many decades ago on the endowments, sometimes from former students. They receive state grants, but generally charge high fees for tuition. Generally this tuition is five times as much as the tuition fee at equivalent state college. As for independent colleges and universities, they originated as church-related institution. Though they originated as church-affiliated institution now most of them have no connections with religious groups. The most common independent colleges and universities include:

1. liberal arts institutions (they offer comprehensive undergraduate education);

2. technical or specialized institutions (they prepare students in engineering, music, nursing);

3. large universities (offer undergraduate programs as well as graduate programs and some courses at professional schools at the university).

Some of the best known private universities are the oldest in the North East. Formally they are known as The Ivy League Institutions. They include 8 universities:

1. Brown University (Providence);

2. University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia);

3. Dartmouth College (Hannover);

4. Cornell University (Ithaca);

5. Columbia University;

6. Harvard University (Cambridge);

7. Princeton University;

8. Yale University (New Haven).

Some prefer smaller institutions for the sake of connections. Some have religious reasons.

Until 1960 most of private institutions including small liberal art colleges were for either men or women only. Since then there have been a revolutionary change. Almost all former men’s colleges have become coeducational. Many of them have very high academic standards and attract many women.