EZ Education Institute - USA (Education System)

Education System
About 85% of American students attend public schools (schools supported by American taxpayers). The other 15% attend private schools, for which their families choose to pay special attendance fee. A new school year starts each fall and lasts to the beginning of the following summer. Students attend classes for an average of five hours a day, five days a week. Four fifths private schools are run by churches, synagogues or other religious groups. All states require young people to attend school. The age limits vary: 32 states require attendance to age 16; eight to 18; etc. Thus, every child in America is guaranteed up to 13 years of education.

Secondary Schools
Secondary school generally means grades 9-12. These grades are popularly called “high school”. Certain subjects are taught in all K to 12 systems across the country. Most secondary schools offer the same “core” of required subjects: English, mathematics, science, social studies and physical education. In some high schools, for example, students must complete three years of mathematics before graduation. However, the national average is lower. Students are guided by school counselors in choosing electives, which can range from specialized academic to vocational subjects.

Higher Education
Out of more than three million students who graduate from high school each year, about one million go on for higher education. The system of higher education in the United States is complex. It comprises four categories. They are as follows:

Colleges, Technical Training Institutions and other Community Colleges
Colleges, Technical Training Institutions and other Community Colleges
The four-year undergraduate institution—the college—most of which are not part of a university; the technical training institution, at which high school graduates may take courses ranging from six months to four years in duration and learn a wide variety of technical skills, from hair styling through business accounting to computer programming; the two-year, or community college for which students may enter many professions or may transfer to four-year college or universities. Community colleges are also set up for foreign students. Hong Kong F.5 graduates can first study in a community college for two years and get a score of more than 3.2 in the GPA and transfer to a good quality university.
Universities
Some of the best universities worldwide are in America. The leading 50 universities in America are all internationally famous. A university contains several colleges for undergraduate students seeking a bachelor’s (four-year) degree and one or more graduate schools for those continuing in specialized studies beyond the bachelor’s degree to obtain a master’s or doctoral degree. A college at a leading university might receive applicants from 2% of those high school graduates, and then accept only one out of every ten who apply. Successful applicants at such colleges are usually chosen on the basis of: 1) their academic results; 2)recommendations from their high school teachers; 3)the impression they make during interviews at the university; and 4)their scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Tests (SATs).