About Under Graduate Programs

The undergraduate bachelor's degree typically takes four years to complete. At most institutions those years are known as the freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years of undergraduate study. Many students complete their first two years at a junior or community college, earning an associate degree, and then transfer to a four-year college or university to complete two more years for a bachelor's degree.

The curriculum of many undergraduate programs is based on a "liberal arts philosophy" that requires students to take courses from a range of subjects to form a broad educational foundation. During the first two years, students have the opportunity to explore various fields of study such as social sciences, humanities, and natural or physical sciences. These courses are often called a "core curriculum" or distribution requirements."  By the end of second year, students at many institutions are asked to choose a specific field of study - known as the major - on which they will focus for the remainder of the undergraduate program. Students then spend the next two years taking more courses directly related to their major.

Students who major in certain fields such as business, engineering, or science find that the curriculum is more tightly structured than it is in the humanities or social sciences. Business, science, and engineering majors may have to take more courses related to their major field of study and have fewer "elective", or optional, courses.

About Graduate Programs

Graduate education can result in a variety of degrees. The most common include the master's of arts (MA), sciences (MS), business administration (MBA), fine arts (MFA), law (LLM), social work (MSW), and specialist in education (EdS). The most common final, or "terminal," degrees are doctorates in a variety of fields (Phd), education (EdD), law (JD), science (DSc), medicine (MD), and religion or divinity (DD).

Master's degrees are the most frequently awarded graduate degrees. Nearly 400,000 master's degrees were awarded by U.S. institutions in 1995. It is possible to earn a master's degree in one year, but more often it will take two to three years. In general, master's degrees require that you complete six to eight courses, in addition to a project or thesis (a long research paper).

A doctorate usually requires five to seven years of study following receipt of the bachelor's degree. It may take less time to obtain a doctorate if you enter the doctoral program with a completed master's degree. Unlike undergraduates, graduate students begin specialized study on the first day of classes. You will probably be required to take certain courses and may be allowed as few as two or three electives. A doctoral program includes the writing of a dissertation involving original research. The dissertation may involve a year or more of research and at least a year of writing. U.S. institutions awarded more than 44,000 doctorates in 1995.

Research is a central feature of most graduate programs at US colleges and universities. U.S. faculty are expected to engage in original in their academic field, in addition to teaching and helping to run the university. Most of the research in the United States is supported by various agencies of the U.S. federal government. Faculty members apply to those agencies for funding to support their research. Part of the research money is used to pay salaries of researchers, some of whom are graduate students.