Home » Emigration Guides » USA » Education » Universities In America

American universities are some of the best in the world, and there are many levels to choose from. From elite private colleges like Sarah Lawrence to practical centres of higher learning like the community college system, it’s possible to find just the right college to suit your budget and education needs.

Most parents want their children to attend a four-year university. There are hundreds of these in America, and in general they all provide a very solid quality of higher education. Professors almost always have a PhD and the dedication to their fields of specialty is top-notch.

To get into a typical four-year university a student must meet certain minimum requirements and then be selected by the admissions committee. Minimum requirements include a GPA (grade point average) from high school that is usually around 3.0 out of 4.0 and SAT (Standardised Aptitude Test) scores.

Admissions committees also look heavily at the kind of classes taken in high school and extracurricular activities such as sports and clubs to determine which potential students are best suited for their university. Most universities require that applicants write an essay detailing the reasons they want to study there, which is evaluated for quality and intent. Professional reference letters from the student’s teachers are also part of the application package.

Every university has their own entrance requirements, and the country’s top schools like Stanford and Harvard are very hard to get in to. But the old adage still holds true that where you get your degree can give you an advantage when applying for jobs. Knowing ahead of time what degree you want to study can help you focus on the best college for that field of study.

There are also two-year colleges, known as vocational or technical colleges, that offer a more direct and specialised education. These colleges are ideal for students who want to become experts in a particular trade and enter the work force quickly. Adult students can also benefit from vocational colleges to quickly get trained for a particular type of job. The entry requirements for these schools are much more relaxed than the major four-year universities, but the quality of training is still very good.

The other category of higher education in America is the community college system. Once considered the domain of adults looking to learn new skills in their spare time, community colleges are now the fastest growing sector in higher education due to their very reasonable tuitions, flexible class schedules and relatively easy entry requirements. As more and more people get priced out of four-year universities the community colleges are picking up the slack, providing very competent training in most cases for people who want to study very specific job skills.