Educational Info

      美國的基礎教育是十二年，繼而是職業學校或大學。三歲或五歲的兒童則有學前教育。兒童正式入小學的年齡是六歲，直至高中畢業應是十八歲。美國所有的學校均分爲公立和私立學校。

      學前須知
      學前教育有不同形式的學校，包括日間托兒中心（Day Care Center）、幼兒學校（Nursery School）、家庭式托兒所（Family Day Care）及啓蒙學校（Head Start）。學前教育主要是啓發兒童智能，增强語言能力，以及培養社交與自我表達能力，為兒童進入小學做好準備。

      小學及中學
      所有學生在進入大學之前，均會接受至少十二年的教育，小學五年，初中三年，高中四年。連幼兒園在內，大學前教育是十三年。高中開始課程分爲必修科和選修科，幷且采取學分制度，必修科由學區或州教育局决定。三藩市的中、小學校由三藩市聯合校區（San Francisco Unified School District，簡稱SFUSD）統一管理。欲知中、小學的資料，請到聯合校區辦事處索取。其網址為www.sfusd.edu。另外，市立圖書館均備有關詳細資料可供查閱。幷非所有學生都會進入大學，所以小學之後，在學生進入高中先作分類，有關校區會開辦多元的課程，為一些不升讀大學的學生提供職業訓練的準備，簡介為社會造就技術勞工。

      大學及ESL班
      加州的大學均分為兩年和四年制。新移民來美，多數英語不佳，ESL（ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE）是他們的一個選擇。三藩市市立大學（CITY COLLEGE OF SAN FRANCISCO，簡稱CCSF）是一所社區大學。凡是過了讀中學年齡之新移民，可以先就讀市立大學，ESL英語課程和無學分課程是免費的，來美未滿一年的新移民修讀有學分必須繳交和外國留學生一樣的學費。一年以後繳交本地學生一樣的學費。欲知詳情，請到市立大學總校或各分校查詢，或上網www.ccsf.edu。加州的公立大學分加州大學（UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA)和州立大學（STATE UNIVERSITY）兩大系統。入學方法分為由中學直升或由市立大學轉學兩種。各大學的圖書館均有本校及其他大學資料可供查詢，也可瀏覽他們的網址www.ucop.edu和www.csumentor.edu，除公立大學外，亦可有不少私立大學可供選擇。
      如須要更多有關於升學方面的資料，請與你們學校的升學咨詢部（Counseling Office）聯繫。

Description of English Programs,Colleges,Universities and Vocational Schools in the United States

Today,over 300,000 non-U.S. resident students are studying in the United States.They come from almost every conuntry in the world. As you might imagine, all students have their own educational goals.Therefore,it is important to understand the U.S. educational system so that you select the right program for you.

Levels of Education:
The levels of education in the U.S. are similar to those in other countries.But the difference can be confusing to non-U.S. residents. Below are some difinitions:

* Primary Education: Pre-school: ages 2-6; Elementary School:ages 6-12.
* Secondary Education: Junior High School: ages 12-14; High school: ages 14-18(note that everyone in the U.S. is required by law to attend until the age of 16. However, some students "drop-out" and do not complete their high school degree.
* Post Secondary Education: There are no real age categories for post secondary education. Generally, American students start college right after completing high school(about 60% of all students who graduate from high school enter college at some point in their life). Junior and Technical colleges are designed to be 'wo year programs,while universities and colleges are dessigned to be 4 year programs at the undergraduate level.In reality, the average American takes over 6 years to finish a ''4 year degree". The reason is that more than 50% of college freshman (first year students) do not know what major or specialization they wish to study.Also, many students work to pay for their college expenses. Thus they may take fever calsses in order to work.

College Versus University: A college usually has just a Bachelor's (4 year) program.A university may be composed of several colleges (for example, the college of medicine and the college of engineering). Universities often have graduate programs as well. For most purposes, a Bachelor's degree from a college is equivalent to a Bachelor's degree from a university, so that the words ''college'' and ''university''  mean the same thing to most Americans. Generally, the value of a degree is a reflection of how society views the particular college or university.

* Vocational/Technical School: Vocational and technical schools operate at either the high school or junior college level. They teach skills such as secretarial,auto mechanics,photography,nursing,etc. It is often difficult for non-U.S. residents to find information on U.S. technical and vocational schools since these schools usually do not promote their programs outside the area where they operate.

Some educational degrees are listed as follows:

Junior-Technical College Associate

4 years College/University Bachelor of Science (B.S.)
                       Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)
Graduate School        Masters of Science (M.S.)
                      Masters of Arts (M.A.)
                      Masters of Business Administration

Universities & College Information
www.csumentor.edu
www.ucop.edu

Federal Financial Aid
www.fafsa.ed.gov
www.studentaid.ed.gov

Financial Aid & Scholarship
www.fastweb.com
www.finaid.org
www.wiredscholar.com
www.collegeboard.com
www.students.gov
www.freschinfo.com
www.mapping-your-future.org