U.S. Colleges and Universities Prepared by Danny Hirsch November 24, 2015

Why Study at a U.S. College or University?

International Students at U.S. Universities In , 974,926 international students attended U.S. universities This is a 73% percent increase from 10 years ago The U.S. hosts more international students than any other country About 4 percent of university students in the U.S. are international 51% of international students come from China, India or South Korea 6,143 students from Spain study at U.S. universities Sources “Number of International College Students Continues to Climb,” U.S. News and World Report, 17 November “Open Doors 2015 Press Release,” Institute of International Education, 16 November “Open Doors Fact Sheet: Spain,” Institute of International Education, 16 November 2015.

U.S. Colleges and Universities What Are They? About 5,000 colleges and universities in the U.S. Two-year institutions Junior colleges and community colleges Associate’s Degrees Academic training before transferring to a four-year institution, or training for a profession Four-year institutions Colleges and universities Bachelor’s Degrees General academic training, or training for a type of profession Public or private, co-educational or single-gender, commuter or residential Source: “Fast Facts: Educational Institutions,” National Center for Education Statistics, 2015.

Four-Year Institutions Students often have a two-year general education before specializing Each student chooses a “Major,” the field s/he studies the most Students can also choose a second Major and/or one or more “Minors” Many students have time to take classes outside of their major(s) and minor(s) Extracurricular activities, social life, internships The idea of a “liberal arts” education

Liberal Arts “La filosofía de liberal arts es un rasgo único del sistema de educación superior de Estados Unidos. Los estudios de licenciatura se basan en ese concepto, según el cual se intenta proporcionar una formación integral que desarrolle las habilidades verbales de expresión oral y escrita y la capacidad de razonamiento crítico del estudiante. Los alumnos de un Liberal Arts College, es decir, de una universidad con un fuerte programa de liberal arts, inician su carrera universitaria cursando asignaturas variadas sobre artes, humanidades, idiomas, ciencias y ciencias sociales. Posteriormente eligen una disciplina en la cual se especializarán (llamada major) y sobre la que cursan entre el 25 y el 50 por ciento de sus clases.” Source: “Tipos de universidades,” EducationUSA-Fulbright España.

My Experience

Pomona College

Money

Total Cost of Attending a U.S. College or University Public two-year institution: $16,833 per year Public four-year institution: $38,544 per year Private four-year institution: $47,831 per year These numbers include tuition, fees and living expenses, and are estimates for the 2015/16 school year Source: “Average Estimated Undergraduate Budgets, ,” CollegeBoard, 2015.

Funding Opportunities “Estudiar en los Estados Unidos puede ser una experiencia gratificante pero financiarlo puede ser complicado. La formación en los EE UU suele ser muy cara y los estudiantes estadounidenses y sus familias asumen [l]os gastos de la matrícula y la manutención…y las posibilidades de obtener ayudas económicas son limitadas. Los estudiantes extranjeros tienen que competir con los estadounidenses por los mismos fondos. Existen numerosas posibilidades para financiar tus estudios en EEUU - hay un rango amplio de costes de matrícula, coste de vida y ayuda económica de las universidades que hacen posible que cientos de miles de alumnos internacionales estudien en EEUU cada año.” Source: “Financia tus estudios,” EducationUSA-Fulbright España.

Financial Aid Amount of aid for international students depends on the school Scholarships and grants Loans Work study arrangements Online resources for finding financial aid Bigfuture.collegeboard.org/scholarship-search

For more information Register with EducationUSA Spain formulario-informacion Read U.S. News and World Report articles about international students studying in the U.S. states states