Types of Colleges & Degrees
Jan 04, 2016
Agenda• Review Degree Types• Undergrad• Graduate
• Intro to Types of Colleges• Public, Private, Religiously Affiliated, HBCU, HSI,
Women’s Colleges, Urban vs. Suburban vs. Rural.
College Speak
• Undergraduate: a college or university student who hasn’t earned his/her bachelor’s degree. First four years of college!
• Graduate: a student who has earned his/her bachelor’s degree, and is studying for an advanced degree
after your first college degree
Examples: Master’s Degree, Doctoral Degree, Law Degree
Degree Types
Undergraduate
• Certificate• Associates (AA, AS)• Bachelor’s (BA, BS)
Post-Baccalaureate/Graduate
• Master’s• Doctorate (PhD)• Professional
Degrees (M.D., J.D., D.D.S, D.V.M.)
Four-year & Two-year Colleges• Four-year colleges
• Can earn a bachelor’s degree (BA/BS)
• includes universities and liberal arts colleges
• Two-year colleges • offer programs that last up to
two years • can earn a certificate or an
associate degree (AA) • includes community colleges,
vocational-technical colleges and career colleges
Public & PrivateColleges
• Public colleges • funded by local and state governments • usually offer lower tuition rates for students living in the
state
• Private colleges • rely mainly on tuition, fees and private sources of funding• some offer generous financial aid due to private donations
Public
UC vs. CSU
• Public Colleges• 4-year schools
• 10 campuses• Tuition: $13,000-$15,000• A lot of focus on preparing studentsfor grad school• Research-basedcourses
• 23 campuses• Tuition: $5,000-$7,000• A lot of focus on preparing students for thejob market• More hands-on
learning
Research Universities
• Usually larger • Focus on research and new discoveries• A lot of emphasis on lecture-based
teaching• Offer both undergraduate (bachelor)
degrees and graduate (masters and Ph.D) degrees• Often made up of separate colleges,
(college of engineering, a college of arts and sciences, or a college of business.)
Liberal Arts Colleges
• Usually smaller in size• Focus on the education of undergraduate
students• Classes are generally taught by professors
who see teaching as their primary responsibility. • Classes tend to be smaller and more personal
attention is available. • Most are private institutions• Students are exposed to a broad base of
courses in the humanities, social sciences and sciences.
Women’s Colleges
• Available to women students• Larger numbers of female faculty and
administrators• Offer college women confidence-building role
models, greater opportunities to serve in a full range of student leadership positions, and a heightened awareness of career possibilities for women. • They graduate a high number of science
majors, as well as students who continue on to graduate school and/or professional studies.
Examples: (60 total)• Scripps (Southern CA)• Mills (Oakland, CA)• Wellesley (MA)• 7 Sisters: Mount Holyoke, Vassar (now co-ed),
Wellesley, Smith, Radcliffe (now Harvard), Bryn Mawr, Barnard (part of Columbia)
Community/Junior Colleges• Generally offer the first two years of a
liberal arts education• In addition, offer specialized
occupational preparation. • An associate degree is awarded at the
end of a two-year program of studies, following which many students continue their education at a four-year institution.
Historically Black Colleges (HBCU)• Find their origins in the time when
African-American students were systematically denied access to most other colleges and universities. • Students at these institutions have a
unique opportunity to experience an educational community in which they are a part of the majority. • They find committed faculty mentors
who encourage their expectations of success.
Hispanic Serving Institutions• Accredited and degree-granting public
or private institutions of higher education with 23% or more Hispanic enrollment. • They receive funding by Congress to
promote and strengthen the ability of these schools to carry out education, applied research, and community development programs.
Examples in California:• Most CSU’s• UC Merced• UC Riverside• University of La Verne• Whittier• Occidental• Fresno Pacific University
Religiously Affiliated Colleges• Educational institutions administered by members of a particular religious faction and often organized and run in alignment with their religious principles.
Examples:• University of Notre Dame (IN) and Georgetown
University (DC)-both Catholic• Brandeis University (IL) and Yeshiva University
(NY)-both Jewish• Brigham Young University (UT)-Mormon• Southern Methodist University (TX)-Methodist• Earlham College (IN)-Quaker
Technical Institutes and Professional Schools• These enroll students who have made
clear decisions about what they want to study. • They emphasize preparation for
specific careers, for example in music or fine arts, engineering or technical sciences. • You will want to be quite sure of your
future direction before selecting one of these options.