Why USA ?
The country has one of the largest education systems in the world with an estimated 4,000 institutions.
While English is the main language in the USA, you’ll have to get used to the differing academic terminology. Universities are generally known as colleges, of which there are two main types:
- Public colleges – large, state-funded institutions that have lower tuition fees but more students. International students pay higher fees.
- Private colleges – smaller universities funded by private donations, tuition fees and grants. The opposite of public colleges, they have higher fees but fewer students. Overseas students pay the same fees as state residents.
Eight institutions make up the American Ivy League, a group of prestigious colleges:
- Brown University (Rhode Island)
- Columbia University (New York)
- Cornell University (New York)
- Dartmouth College (New Hampshire)
- Harvard University (Massachusetts)
- University of Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania)
- Princeton University (New Jersey)
- Yale University (Connecticut).
Four of the top ten universities in the world are USA institutions according to the QS World University Rankings 2024. These include:
- 1st – Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
- 4th – Harvard University
- 5th – Stanford University
- 10th – University of California, Berkeley (UCB)
The University of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania and Cornell University rank 11th, 12th and 13th respectively.
The academic calendar in the USA is split into two semesters; fall (autumn) runs from mid-August to December, and spring runs from January to May.