U.S. education system

Hi! This is Palme School. Today we are talking about the US education system.

How does the U.S. education system work?
Preschool and Elementary School - Junior High School.
Middle School
High school
What does the admissions process look like for universities in the United States?
What is the difference between a university and a college in the United States?
The 10 best universities in the United States.

How does the U.S. education system work?

School education consists of 4 stages:

Early Childhood Education: Preschool.
Elementary Education: Elementary School.
Junior High School: Middle School.
Senior high school: High school.

A few general facts:

There are private and public schools in the United States. And schooling is compulsory for any child from 6-8 years old to 16-18. The age varies from state to state.
Each section of the school has a separate building.
The school day lasts 5-6 hours + lunch. Creative and sports activities take up the afternoon.
Grades are given on the A, B, C, D, F system, where A is the highest grade and F is an unsatisfactory grade.
4% schools still practice corporal punishment. All of these schools are in southern states like Alabama, Texas, South Carolina, etc.
Public schools are governed by a school board. This board hires teachers, allocates the budget, and sets school programs.
You can only get into a public school based on where you live.
Private schools are often religious. Other private schools have high requirements for future students, as they prepare them to enter the top universities in the country.

Preschool and Elementary School. Kindergarten and Elementary School.

Preschool is not compulsory preschool education for children from 4 to 6 years old. But most children still attend it. This is the time when children most often learn to read and socialize with their peers.

Elementary School is an elementary school. Children come to learn at age 6. From state to state it can be from 4 to 6 grades. All subjects are taught by one teacher. The compulsory subjects include math, English, literature, creative writing and sports. Natural sciences are given much less time and are reduced to one or two subjects like science.

Middle School: high school.

Middle school is grades 6-8 or 7-9. Here each subject has a different teacher. Social and natural sciences are added. It is noteworthy that each science, such as physics or chemistry, is not given a separate subject, but is taught together as part of the natural science cycle.

The social sciences include geography, history, and civics,

The natural sciences include: geology, chemistry, physics, and biology.

There are also elective subjects that must be taken for total credit hours. These are usually creative writing, technology or foreign languages.

In middle school, students take 6-10 subjects and lessons follow the same schedule every day or alternate every other day.

High School: high school.

High school is grades 9-12. Depending on the state, students graduate from high school at age 16-18.

To graduate from school and receive a diploma, you need to pass a compulsory set of subjects: math, English, literature, natural and social sciences, and physical education. The remaining subjects and advanced knowledge in compulsory sciences are optional.

Students choose the remaining subjects based on the requirements of the university they intend to attend. Among the subjects you can find:

Statistics.
Informatics.
Environics. (environmental science)
Foreign languages.
Fine Arts.
Performing Arts.
Publishing.
Labor.

In grades 11-12, advanced classes appear in subjects that are important for university entrance.

The U.S. education system also offers a 13th grade of education - Advanced Placement. This is an in-depth education where students are prepared for a specific university program. In some cases, universities even enroll such students in the second year.

What does the admissions process look like for universities in the United States?

In colloquial English, college and university refer to the same level of education, the baccalaureate. Universities are places where a student can earn a master's degree or higher.

Higher education in the USA is paid, but there are a number of preferential programs, grants and scholarships. The cost of a year of study starts from $5000 to $40-50K (e.g. Harvard University).

To get into a US university, you need to fulfill a number of requirements:

High School Diploma.
Credit in school subjects for specific majors or majors.
SAT exam.
University Application. It contains a number of questions about education, extracurricular activities, and an essay on a given topic.

How is education structured at universities in the United States?

A student is not obliged to choose a specialization in the first year of study, but can simply attend a number of compulsory disciplines. Although students predominantly choose universities by the quality of the faculty and the specialization in which they are going to develop.

During the course of study, a student may earn a degree in several majors.

A bachelor's degree lasts 4 years. It is followed by 1 year of master's degree, 2 years of postgraduate studies or specialized training, as in medicine, and further research activities.

Universities can also be private and public. There are more than 4,000 universities across the United States. Most universities undergo mandatory accreditation, but not all. And although in many states getting a job with a degree from an unaccredited university is classified as forgery, the business of such "universities" is still quite developed.

The 10 best universities in the United States.

According to QS World University Rankings 2025 here of the top 20 best universities in the world, 10 of them are located in the United States. The ranking evaluates data on research, employment, faculty experience, interaction with the world, and more.