Who is college for

What does all this tell us? It tells us that graduates value both purpose and work — and in fact, find the most purpose in and from work. It tells us that we still have a lot of room for improvement in helping graduates achieve purposeful work. And it tells us that a classically liberal arts element of college teaching students how to be reflective is powerfully linked to their job success.

What more do we need to end the silly debate about the purpose of college as job training vs. If we view it too narrowly as job training, we miss the purposeful elements that bring work to life. Helping graduates achieve purposeful work may indeed be the purpose of college. This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here. Understanding the system will help you narrow your choices and develop your education plan.

Prior to higher education, American students attend primary and secondary school for a combined total of 12 years. These years are referred to as the first through twelfth grades. Around age six, U. After graduating high school 12th grade , U. Just like American students, you will have to submit your academic transcripts as part of your application for admission to university or college. Academic transcripts are official copies of your academic work.

In the U. Courses are commonly graded using percentages, which are converted into letter grades. The grading system and GPA in the U. The interpretation of grades has a lot of variation. For example, two students who attended different schools both submit their transcripts to the same university. They both have 3. The university might interpret their GPAs differently because the two schools have dramatically different standards. Your educational advisor or guidance counselor will be able to advise you on whether or not you must spend an extra year or two preparing for U.

If an international student entered a U. The school calendar usually begins in August or September and continues through May or June. The majority of new students begin in autumn, so it is a good idea for international students to also begin their U. There is a lot of excitement at the beginning of the school year and students form many great friendships during this time, as they are all adjusting to a new phase of academic life.

Additionally, many courses are designed for students to take them in sequence, starting in autumn and continuing through the year. Still, others further divide the year into the quarter system of four terms, including an optional summer session.

Basically, if you exclude the summer session, the academic year is either comprised of two semesters or three quarter terms. In Hong Kong you just learn what the teacher writes on the board. In America, you discuss the issues and focus more on ideas. Your first two years of study you will generally be required to take a wide variety of classes in different subjects, commonly known as prerequisite courses: literature, science, the social sciences, the arts, history, and so forth.

This is so you achieve a general knowledge, a foundation, of a variety of subjects prior to focusing on a specific field of study. Many students choose to study at a community college in order to complete the first two years of prerequisite courses. They will earn an Associate of Arts AA transfer degree and then transfer to a four-year university or college. You will be required to take a certain number of courses in this field in order to meet the degree requirements of your major.

You must choose your major at the beginning of your third year of school. A very unique characteristic of the American higher education system is that you can change your major multiple times if you choose. It is extremely common for American students to switch majors at some point in their undergraduate studies. Often, students discover a different field that they excel in or enjoy.

The American education system is very flexible. Keep in mind though that switching majors may result in more courses, which means more time and money. This degree is usually mandatory for higher-level positions in library science, engineering, behavioral health and education. Furthermore, international students from some countries are only permitted to study abroad at a graduate level.

You should inquire about the credentials needed to get a job in your country before you apply to a postgraduate university in the USA. A graduate program is usually a division of a university or college. To gain admission, you will need to take the GRE graduate record examination.

For example, the MBA master of business administration is an extremely popular degree program that takes about two years. It may take three years or more to earn a PhD degree. Still, my 40 years in the education industry leave no doubt that they are hopelessly outnumbered.

Meritorious education survives but does not thrive. Fifty years ago, college was a full-time job. The typical student spent 40 hours a week in class or studying. Effort has since collapsed across the board. What are students doing with their extra free time? Having fun. The average GPA is now 3. W hat does this mean for the individual student? Absolutely not. Studying irrelevancies for the next four years will impress future employers and raise her income potential.

To unilaterally curtail your education is to relegate yourself to a lower-quality pool of workers. For the individual, college pays. This does not mean, however, that higher education paves the way to general prosperity or social justice. In other words, education enriches individuals much more than it enriches nations. How is this possible?

As credentials proliferate, so do failed efforts to acquire them. Students can and do pay tuition, kill a year, and flunk their finals. Any respectable verdict on the value of education must account for these academic bankruptcies. Failure rates are high, particularly for students with low high-school grades and test scores; all told, about 60 percent of full-time college students fail to finish in four years.

The college-for-all mentality has fostered neglect of a realistic substitute: vocational education. It takes many guises—classroom training, apprenticeships and other types of on-the-job training, and straight-up work experience—but they have much in common. All vocational education teaches specific job skills, and all vocational education revolves around learning by doing, not learning by listening.

Research, though a bit sparse, suggests that vocational education raises pay, reduces unemployment, and increases the rate of high-school completion. Defenders of traditional education often appeal to the obscurity of the future. The vast American underclass shows that this disturbing possibility is already our reality. Education is so integral to modern life that we take it for granted.

Young people have to leap through interminable academic hoops to secure their place in the adult world. My thesis, in a single sentence: Civilized societies revolve around education now, but there is a better—indeed, more civilized—way. If everyone had a college degree, the result would be not great jobs for all, but runaway credential inflation.

Trying to spread success with education spreads education but not success. Skip to content Site Navigation The Atlantic. Popular Latest. The Atlantic Crossword.