An Overview of U.S. Higher Education Finnish International Educators USA Study Tour 2008

Transcription

1 An Overview of U.S. Higher Education Finnish International Educators USA Study Tour 2008 Linda Tobash Institute of International Education

2 Objectives Overview of U.S. Higher Education History Diversity and Structure Decentralized Governance Student profiles Undergraduate Community College Graduate Admissions Undergraduate Graduate 2

3 History 3

4 History Nine colonial colleges ( ) Modeled after the English college rather than the university System is historically rooted in a Liberal Arts tradition Most were founded by religious groups Growth in numbers and types ( ) Professional schools(polytechs), normal schools (teaching), publicly-funded institutions created, women admitted 4

5 History Rise of the university ( ) Morrill Land Grant College Act (1862) the Federal government gave 30,000 acres of land for each state senator and representative in Congress Establish educational institutions with engineering and agriculture components Idea of a university system where any person can find instruction in any study is advanced Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU s) 5

6 History Graduate school of arts and sciences Many advocated a German model of separate research and scientific institutions, but the liberal arts tradition was too strong A German graduate school was grafted onto an English college devoted to general education Professional schools were absorbed into universities 6

7 History Expansion and Massification (1960 s to present) Community and junior colleges emerged as distinct structural units award two-year Associate s degree Enrollments mushroomed in the 1960 s and 1970 s 238% increase from 1960 to 1980 shifted from predominantly private to predominantly public institutions Number of accredited degree-granting institutions went from 977 in early 1900 s to nearly 4400 in 2006 Taken from U.S. Department of Education data,

8 Key Characteristics Institutional Diversity 8

9 Diversity Pluralism in the types of institutions considered a strength of the system Nearly 4,400 institutions 60% private Growth in for-profit institutions, currently 20% are forprofit institutions 40% public 76% of the students attend a public institution Taken from 2005 Carnegie Classification and U.S. Department of Education Digest of Education Statistics and reports in the Chronicle of Higher Education 9

10 Institutions 4,387 degree-granting institutions 1,734 public institutions (40% of total) 1,743 private not-for-profit institutions (40%) 910 private for-profit institutions (20%) 15,023,346 total enrollment at all higher education institutions Sources: 2005 Carnegie Classification; National Center for Education Statistics and Open Doors 2006/07 10

11 A Typology of American Colleges & Universities: The Carnegie Classification System Doctorate-Granting Universities: institutions awarding at least 20 doctoral degrees per year in non-professional fields Master s Colleges and Universities: institutions awarding at least 50 masters degrees per year Baccalaureate Colleges: institutions where baccalaureate degrees represent at least 10% of all undergraduate degrees and that award fewer than 50 master s degrees or fewer than 20 doctoral degrees per year Associate s Colleges: institutions where all degrees are at the associate s level, or where bachelors degrees account for less than 10% of all undergraduate degrees. Special Focus Institutions: institutions awarding baccalaureate or higher-level degrees where a high concentration of degrees is in a single field (e.g., medicine, engineering, business & management, art & music, law) Tribal Colleges: institutions that are members of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium Prepared by Joseph P. Zolner, Director, Harvard Institutes for Higher Education,

12 Representative Examples Doctorate-Granting Universities Boston University (research-very high) Fordham University (research-high) University of Massachusetts- Boston (doctoral/reseach) Master s Colleges and Universities Arkansas State University California State University System (multiple campuses) SUNY New Paltz Partially taken from notes by Joseph P. Zolner, Director, Harvard Institutes for Higher Education,

13 Representative Examples Baccalaureate Colleges Haverford College (PA) Colorado State University Pueblo Smith College (MA) Associate s Colleges City College of San Francisco (CA) Delaware Technical and Community College Miami Dade Community College (FL) LaGuardia Community College, CUNY (NY) Partially taken from notes by Joseph P. Zolner, Director, Harvard Institutes for Higher Education,

14 Representative Examples Special Focus Institutions Cooper Union (NY) Babson College (MA) Southern California University of Health Sciences American Academy of Art (IL) Chicago Theological Seminary (IL) Pratt Institute (NY) Prepared by Joseph P. Zolner, Director, Harvard Institutes for Higher Education,

15 Breakdown by Carnegie Classification Doctorate-Granting Institutions: 283 (6% of institutions; 28% of enrollments) Master s Colleges and Universities: 689 (16% of institutions; 23% of enrollments) Baccalaureate Colleges: 739 (17% of institutions; 8% of enrollments) Associate s Colleges: 1,811 (41% of institutions; 39% of enrollments) Special Focus Institutions: 807 (18% of institutions; 3% of enrollments) Tribal Colleges: 34 (.7% of institutions;.1% of enrollments) Sources: 2005 Carnegie Classification; National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS Fall Enrollment Survey-Survey prepared by Joseph P. Zolner, Director, Harvard Institutes for Higher Education,

16 Breakdown Tribal, 0.70% Doctorate, 6% Special Focus, 18% Master's, 16% Associate's, 41% Bachelor's, 17% Percentage of Institutions Special Focus, 3% Tribal, 0.10% Doctorate, 28% Associate's, 39% Bachelor's, 8% Mas ter's, 23% Percentage of Students 16

17 Structure Taken from A Brief Guide to U. S. Education, American Council on Education,

18 Role of general education Belief in value of general education at the undergraduate level historical roots in the liberal arts tradition Breadth of knowledge informed citizens critical thinking skills Skill set needed for labor force interdisciplinary competencies maneuver career transitions lifelong learners 18

19 Key Characteristics Shared Governance 19

20 Governance Decentralized with limited government control Belief in limited government No federal or central government overseeing or coordinating the system Individual institutions establish policy and management structures Public institutions experience more regulation at the state level Partially taken from Higher Education in the U.S.: Diversity, Access and Role of the Marketplace, American Council on Education,

21 Decentralized Control Governance Policies Regulations Finance Budgets Sources of funding Tuition and fees Faculty Hiring Promotion Curriculum & degrees Content Degree conferral Student recruitment & marketing Student admission 21

22 The Complicated Web of Higher Education Governance: Shared Governance The Governing Board The President and The Administration The Faculty Students External Audiences 22

23 Students 23

24 Universal Access Higher education as a public good Emphasis on fair and equitable access and treatment High demand 24

25 Undergraduate Student Profile At the bachelor s degree level approximately 7,676,797 students were enrolled in Traditional age is Nearly 1/3 (28%) of age cohort is enrolled in post-secondary level studies 64% of high school graduates in 2000 enrolled in college 6% in part-time study (2000) 2.1% are international Female students make up 59% of the student population compared to international students where male students are 52.9% (2003) Approximately 1.35 million bachelor s degrees were awarded in % to international students (2003) Taken from Open Doors 2007 and U.S. Dept. of Education, National Center for Ed. Statistics

26 Community College Profile Increasing growth in community college enrollments At the associate s degree level approximately 4,706,691 students were enrolled. nearly one-half were going to college for the first time median age of years old 1.4% were international students One-third were in liberal arts or general studies (prebaccalaureate/transfer programs) One-quarter were in the health professions nursing, dental assistants, medical lab technologists One-quarter were in business-related subjects Taken from Open Doors 2007 and U.S. Dept. of Education statistics 26

27 Graduate Enrollment Over 2.14 million graduate students in % were international students Nearly two-thirds study in public institutions Degrees awarded in 2005: Over 530,200 master s level degrees awarded Over 80,000 first professional degrees awarded Over 45,000 doctoral level degrees awarded Taken from Open Doors 2007, Council of Graduate Schools 2005 Survey 27

28 Graduate Student Profile U.S. Students two-thirds are in public institutions 53% are full-time slightly over half work part-time (81% work) over 59% female average age is 34 Education, Business, Social Sciences, Health Sciences, Public Administration & Services among most popular fields International over 50% enroll in Doctoral high research activity 50% split between public and private most are full-time 58% are male Engineering, Math & Computer Sciences, Business, Physical &Life Sciences among most popular fields Taken from CGS/GRE Survey of Graduate Enrollment- F 05 (with some data from F 00) and Open Doors

29 Student Funding 29

30 Undergraduate Tuition Averages Estimated Average Undergraduate Costs for U.S. Colleges and Universities (September - May, ) Private Schools State Schools (non-resident) High Cost Low Cost High Cost Low Cost Tuition & Fees $34,000 $13,000 $13,000 $5,500 Room & Board 8,500 4,500 5,500 4,000 Books & Supplies 1,500 1,200 1,500 1,000 Personal Expenses 8,500 4,500 5,5000 3,500 Total $52,500 $23,200 $25,500 $14,000 Partially taken from Study in the USA 30

31 Graduate Tuition and Fee Averages T u itio n C o s ts 30,000 25,000 20,000 15,000 10,000 5,000 0 Overall: average academic year tuition and fees are $26,000 Private institutions: average academic year tuition and fees are $25,000 (range of $7,000 to $52,000) General Private Public Public institutions: average academic year tuition and fees are $19,000 (range of $9,000 to $34,000) Generally, highest tuition and fees are in the professional schools such as architecture, law, business, etc. Figures based on IIE 2007 Tuition data 31

32 Student Funding U.S. Students 70% of aid comes from the U.S. federal government 20% comes from colleges & univ. 6% comes from state funds Remainder comes from private funds, organizations and corporations In , 60% of all aid was in the form of loans compared to approximately 42% twenty years ago International Students Approximately two-thirds (61.5%) of foreign students funding comes from personal and family sources Nearly 72% of funding comes from sources outside of the U.S. 26% of funding to international students comes from U.S. colleges and universities 11% - undergrad 46% - graduate 32

33 Admission Processes 33

34 No U.S. national system for recruitment or admission of students Each institution establishes its own recruitment and admissions policies Institutions can usually be categorized as having highly selective, competitive, less selective, or open admission policies At selective institutions meeting minimum requirements does not gain one admission it only means that one meets the requirements to be considered for admission being admissible and getting admitted are not the same Increased competition at both undergraduate and graduate levels for admission and financial aid 34

35 Undergraduate Admissions 35

36 At the undergraduate level, the review process and admission decisions are centralized within the Admission Office Highly selective and competitive admission decisions are based on grades, test scores, letters of recommendation, community and leadership activities, quality of essays Highly selective often have early deadlines students at the high school level start the process of identifying colleges up to 18 months in advance (researching, visiting) and usually apply 9 to 11 months in advance Selective and competitive institutions usually have application deadlines between Jan. 1 and Feb. 1 review of applications in spring decisions announced in early April students reply by May 1 studies begin in August or September 36

37 Undergraduate Processes Specialized programs can meet admission requirements for a college or university but not meet requirements for a specialized program for example, fine arts, nursing, engineering and sciences Less selective may have 'rolling admissions admission decisions are made as applications come in admissions is kept open until classes begin Less selective may only require proof of high school graduation often called 'open admissions' 37

38 Undergraduate Exams Common Entrance Examinations SAT (Scholastic Assessment Test) measures verbal and mathematical abilities (College Board) SAT Subject Exams ACT comparable to the SAT (American College Testing Program) one or the other is usually required by selective and competitive programs TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) usually required at ALL institutions for non-native speakers of English IELTS (International English Language Testing System) frequently accepted in lieu of TOEFL 38

39 Undergraduate Competition Application acceptance rates 4-year public institutions have a 68% acceptance rate 4-year private institutions have a 60% acceptance rate down from 68% in early 90 s due to the higher number of applications Admission Standards Increased over past ten years High school GPA or rank are consistently ranked as among the most important factors in admission decisions Standardized admissions test scores second in importance. Quality of the person overall 39

40 Graduate Admissions 40

41 Graduate Admissions Decentralized admission processes and layered levels of admission and financial aid decisions Departments make the decision/recommendation focus on talent, expertise Graduate schools approve and admit focus on policy and budget Admissions Offices approve focus on credentials and requirements 41

42 Graduate Requirements Vary greatly tests & minimum scores GRE, TOEFL, and GMAT GPA(grade point average) Work and writing samples or portfolio requirements interviews or auditions work experience Vary from institution to institution Vary within different programs in institution sometimes by specialization within the same program Vary by field of study business weighs work experience and essays law weighs prior institutions attended theoretical fields in sciences and humanities weigh prior academic experience and academic references Vary from year-to-year 42

43 Graduate Exams Common Entrance Examinations GRE General (Graduate Record Exam) Subject Exams Biochemistry, Cell & Molecular Biology, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Literature in English, Mathematics, Physics, and Psychology GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test) TOEFL IELTS 43

44 Trends: Specializations and Interdisciplinary Study Greater level of specialization within programs explosion of new concentrations in some fields, e.g. electrical engineering, telecommunications, education related to technology and distance education, law Interdisciplinary study across disciplines interdisciplinary centers, focused on large issues, e.g. energy, global warming, environmental issues, health issues Need to have a faculty member with expertise in student s specialization to agree to be an advisor even at master s level Fastest growing area is certificate programs 44

45 Trends: Competition Annually over 1.26 million applications are made strong competition for seats, especially at the PhD level stronger competition for money Overall, only 46% of ALL applications are accepted varies greatly by institution and field of study Biological Sciences, Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences less than 35% Education and Business over 50% competition at the doctoral level is much higher 58% acceptance rate at the master s level 25% acceptance rate at the doctoral level Taken from CGS/GRE Survey of Graduate Enrollment

46 Taken from CGS/GRE Survey of Graduate Enrollment

47 THANKS! 47