Colleges

The American college, although it is the outgrowth of the English colleges of Oxford and Cambridge, has developed into an institution which has no counterpart in Europe.

The college course of study is extended to four years, and the classes are uniformly known as the freshman, the sophomore, the junior and the senior.

Because public and private institutions cannot expand fast enough to meet the demands for higher education two-year junior colleges have been opened. They are uniquely American invention. Junior colleges are not always tuition free, but the rates are generally comparatively low per course. A junior college usually offers courses related to local industry, agriculture and crafts which will be immediately useful in employment. Many of the students who take these courses at night have daytime jobs related to them. Though originally designed to provide two years of education beyond high school two-year junior colleges are being used by hundreds of thousands of students as the first two years of a four-year college education.

College grades, determined by each instructor on the basis of class work or examinations, are usually on a five point scale, with letters to indicate the level of achievement, “A” is the highest mark, and the letters go through B,C,D, to E or F, which denotes failure. Many schools assign points to each grade (A=5,B=4, etc.) so that grade-point averages may be computed. Normally, a minimum grade-point average is required to continue in school and to graduate.

The traditional degree which crowns the college course is that of Bachelor of Arts (AB). The studies ordinarily insisted on in the case of candidates for this degree are Latin, Greek, mathematics, English, philosophy, political economy, history, at least one modern European language (French or German), and at least one natural science.

The degrees of Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Bachelor of Philosophy (Ph.B.) are often conferred by colleges upon students who have pursued systematic courses of study which do not include Greek or the amount of Latin required for the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Bachelor’s degree may be earned in a number of professional or applied fields such as nursing, agriculture, education, engineering, or business administration.

@ Notes

counterpart - двойник, копия

freshman - первокурсник, младший курс в вузе

sophomore - второкурсник, второй курс

junior college - колледж с 2-годичным неполным курсом

craft - умение

grade - 1)ступень, класс в амер. школе, 2) оценка

point - амер. единица, очко при учете количества прослушанных лекций, выполненных лабораторных работ и т. д.

to pursue - заниматься чем-либо

tuition free - бесплатный

uniquely - исключительно, уникально

extend - расширять, продлевать