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Education
Public Education K-12
Publically-funded education is provided for all
from kindergarten through 12th grade. The U.S.
Department of Education is responsible
for policies and programs in the public schools
throughout the United States. Also, state,
regional, and local boards of education work more
directly with school districts and individual
schools.
Higher Education
It is becoming more and more common in the U.S.
for people to pursue higher education. With the
help of financial
aid, including federal
student loans, and work-study
programs, a college education is attainable
for just about anyone. Also, merit-based scholarships
are available for a large number of individual
achievements, including but not limited to academics,
sports, and arts.
The U.S. has a huge variety of colleges and universities,
both public and private, throughout the country.
This list
of colleges and universities, compiled and
maintained by the University of Texas, is a good
place to get a taste of the variety that is available.
The Chronicle of Higher Education - http://chronicle.com/
Higher Education Resource Hub - more than you
ever wanted to know about higher education.. and
then some!
http://www.higher-ed.org/
Search Universities in the U.S. - http://www.univsource.com/
Community Colleges - another alternative for
students, often chosen because they are usually
less expensive, less competitive, and /or closer
to home - http://www.utexas.edu/world/comcol/alpha/
Liberal Arts Colleges -
| GPA = Grade
Point Average (generally up to a maximum
of 4.0 - except when "weighted")
A collective figure to represent the grades
earned within an academic year. GPA is especially
important for admission into colleges or
graduate schools, as well as when seeking
scholarships.
This GPA Calculating spreadsheet will give
you an idea of how GPA is determined.
http://www.back2college.com/gpa.htm |
Magnet Schools are
public schools (generally K-12) with superior
reputations as education providers. In some
of these schools, students are selected
based on specific entry requirements.
http://www.magnet.edu/
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| No Pass, No Play - rules
requiring student athletes to be passing a
certain proportion of their classes in order
to be eligible to play. To read a variety
of opinions on this topic, check out this
forrum: http://connect.familyeducation.com/webx/webx.dll?230@@.ee72dcd
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Greek Life - Fraternities and
Sororities
Nationwide networks of social organizations
play a large role in many college students'
higher education experiences. Called "Greeks"
because of the Greek letters that identify
these organizations, fraternity and sorority
members form a community who live, party,
volunteer, study together.
The Greek System 101 |
| SAT That all-important standardized
test for college admission. http://www.collegeboard.com/splash
There is a mathematical and a
verbal component, each on a scale of 200-800. Recently, in reaction to criticisms
that the all-multiple-choice format was
not the best way to measure performance,
a writing portion has also been added to
the test. The writing section is also graded on a scale of 200-800 with two additional subscores given for the multiple choice and essay portion.
Also, the College Board is responsible for the GRE for post-graduate students. Check out all the tests available by the Educational Testing Service - each specific to different skills, career paths, and schools.
Educational Testing Service
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The ACT, a different
type of standardized test used for undergraduate
admissions, is preferred by some institutions
(it tends to be used more in the South).
http://www.act.org/aap/
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