The Difference Between England And American Higher Education
British higher education has a long history in the UK.State education in England is in three stages:primary,secondary and further(including higher and adult).And British universities can be divided roughly into 3 main groups:the old universities; the Redbrick universities; the new universities.The old universities refer to those founded before 1600.Oxford & Cambridge are the oldest ones,dating back to the 12th and 13th century.Until the 19th century,they are the only 2 universities in England.The Redbrick universities include all the provincial universities of the period 1850-1930,as well as London University.They are so called because they were all built in the favorite building material of the period---red brick.The new universities are those founded since the 2nd world war.They have their own independent and modern approaches to teaching.Altogether,there are now 44 universities in the United Kingdom:33 in England,8 in Scotland,2 in Northern Ireland & 1,a federation of 7 colleges,in Wales.
U.S.university system is decentralized and very independent.U.S.university system has its own independent accrediting organization.In the U.S.there are public universities,private universities,liberal arts colleges,professional colleges,technical colleges and community colleges.Universities are research oriented institutions which provide undergraduate and graduate education.Colleges are usually 2 year or four year institutions which do not emphasize research but rather teaching.Some universities have professional schools in specializations like journalism,engineering,medical,law,pharmacy and dental.
In most U.S.universities American,students can begin their higher education at any time in their life,can take any major,can change majors at any time,can be a part-time or a full-time student,can stop or re-start their education at any time,can go to class during the day time or at night,can attend classes at sites off the campus of the university,and can take classes or a complete degree by a computer on-line.It is difficult to get into the best universities in the U.S.but not so difficult to get into lesser know universities even though the quality of education is still very high.Students attending universities are usually very intelligent and the universities demand much from them.The class work is very hard and requires much study.Much of their work is individual and requires much research and thinking.