College

There are hundreds of colleges in the United States; small colleges, large to huge colleges, some in rural areas and some in the heart of big cities. There are community colleges that are for two years and there are universities that offer graduate programs in addition to four-year undergraduate college. Most states have their own system of public colleges and universities, but the majority of colleges in this country are private.

There are many private colleges that began as institutions affiliated with a religious denomination. There still exist institutions with a religious purpose, such as Jerry Falwell’s Liberty College, which is avowedly Christian. There are also colleges devoted to the hard sciences, the most famous of which is perhaps the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. One thing that students of all kinds of colleges are likely to agree upon is that college is an experience they will never forget. Although it is clear that there are many diverse kinds of colleges in this country, there are some elements that most, if not all, will have in common. First and foremost colleges are academic institutions, and this is true of all of them. Most colleges are devoted to the arts and sciences, with programs in everything from English literature to economics to physics. No two students take exactly the same courses, as happens often in high school, but typically students are required to declare a major, a focus in one department or other in which students progress from beginning courses to advanced courses. Some colleges ask of their students to complete a senior thesis or other major project in order to be eligible for graduation.

Many colleges ask their student to declare a minor as well, a secondary focus of concentration. Student life in American colleges is rich and varied. Most conspicuous is perhaps college athletics, which includes all the favorite American sports, from baseball to basketball to tennis.

Many colleges have teams that play in leagues; the best football teams draw large crowds and are often televised. Apart from athletics, college student pursue many varied activities, such as theater, dance, debating, chess clubs, and singing groups. Some students become entrepreneurs and start their own businesses. Another frequent feature of campus life is the fraternities and sororities, groups of young men and women who band together and live together, each with its own distinctive name, rituals, and activities. However, in most cases the majority of the student body tends to live in dormitories, some of which are now coeducational. The college years are years of experiment and growth, emotionally and intellectually. A college degree is often a ticket to a good job after college.