Universities around the world serve an important purpose – to educate
students about their choosen field of study. Students are expected to
do similar tasks and think in proscribed ways, yet, they graduate from
curricula that are vastly different. Universities, regardless of
location, produce professionals and intellectuals who fundamentally
shape the world in which they will live. Students are expected to
master a body of knowledge based on the cirricula that exists within
their respective countries. While the goals of universities are
similar worldwide, the structure of the educational system vary from
place to place (ex. ‘college’ in England is roughly equivalent to the
third and fouth years of high school in the United States, while
‘university’ in England is equivalent to our third and fourth years of
university). Even though the United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK)
share a common Anglo-Saxon derived culture, their ideals and practice
within each education system differ vastly.
The goal of this paper is to illustrate similarities and differences
in higher education programs between the United Kingdom and the United
States, despite a common desire to generate adults who are ready to
tackle the challenges of the world. This paper is the result of study
at the University of Leeds (Leeds, England) and at the Colorado School
of Mines (Colorado, United States). It is a preliminary examination
based on participant observation as a student in both instituions.
The significant differences (in general) between UK and US education are outlined below:
| United Kingdom |
United States of America |
| College begins at the age of 16, where students choose their field of study for university at 16 |
College begins at the age of 18, where students choose their field of study |
| Price of attending university is relatively small |
University costs are relatively high for students |
| Students focus solely on their field of study |
Students focus on their major and peripheral subjects related to their major |
| Undergraduate in university lasts 3 years |
Undergraduate lasts 4 years |
| Learning responsibility primarily lies on the students |
Faculty and students share responsibility for learning |
| Homework is rarely assigned, and the final exam is worth 80%+ of the final grade |
Homework makes up a large portion of the grade, and final exams are worth approximately 30% |
| Grading system is out of 100, but grades above 75% are rare |
Grading system is out of 100, and 90%+ grades are common |
| Social life is just as important if not more important than academics |
Academics dominate, and social life is not nearly as important. |
| A masters is often required in order to become a professional |
A bachelors degree will often allow a student to obtain a well-paying occupation |
The main differences between university study in the US and UK are
outlined above, but it is the subtle differences in combination that
really make the experience different, such as UK english vs. US english
and ethos of the UK/US.
Children from ages 5 to 16 are required to attend school in the UK,
either through state schools, independently, or home-schools (state
schools are free) (“Office of Public Sector Information”). At the age
of 16, students have a choice of whether they want to continue or not.
If they continue, they will leave ‘school’ and attend sixth form (what
they call ‘college), which is two years of pre-requisite courses for
students interested in going to university. At the age of 16, students
in the UK decide on what their field of study will be while in
university. The courses they take at sixth form will be related to what
they will study while at university (ex. an engineer will take
mathematics/physics courses during sixth form). In order to pass sixth
form, students need to pass standardized A-level tests. Students then
apply to the universities of their choice. The scores that they receive
on their A-levels are given to universities to help determine whether
the student is accepted or not.
In the US, students are required to attend school until they are 16
via public or private schools, or by being home schooled. Students
typically enter high school at the age of 14, and complete the four
years of high school and graduate at 18. At the age of 18, students
either have the choice to continue their education at university (also
known as college in the US), or they can stop school and attempt to find
work. Students electing to contine their studies will apply to
universities of their choice. During the last two years of high school,
students take a nationwide standardized test that covers math, science,
reading, and writing (the test is either the ACT or SAT, depending on
where you live and what university you’re applying to). The results on
these tests along with the students’ average grade in high school help
the universities determine whether or not the student gets accepted.
In the later parts of the British educational system (age 16 or
older), students need to choose their field of study and then focus only
on that field until they graduate and begin to work. The later part of
the American system tends to be a bit more broad, meaning students get
to experience many different fields of study before actually deciding to
specialize in one. For example, a student who is educated in Britain
will choose a major by the age of 17, and will only study that major for
the following several years without getting much of a glimpse into
other fields. For engineering, in general, all students in the US will
take the same courses for the first two years of university, and then
specialize for the remaining two years. This allows the student to
decided on a field of study roughly at the age of 20, and at the same
time allows the student to look at a whole range of fields that may
interest them. The first two years (particularly for engineering)
prepare the students in a way such that whatever field they decide to
specialize in, they can without additional prerequisites.
Education and Economics
The structure of the courses (particularly at university level) and
how they are taught are unique. The American system typically teaches
students how to do something, and then forces the students to study
immediately by assigning homework. British education sets students up to
learn, and then a large piece of the learning process is studying for
the final exam. The British are much more relaxed, in that they
lecture, and expect each student to be ready for the final at the end of
the year, while assigning little or no homework. It is my contention
that differences in pricing structures affect expectations om the
teaching and learning culture. Analysis of the cost structure provides
at least a partial explanation for the resulting differences in teaching
and learning strategies.
Both price and the culture of university make these differences
understandable. British universities typically cost a specific, set
price which is much, much less than the cost of a tyical American
university. In the 2009/10 academic year, undergraduates in Britain
(who are citizens of the UK) paid a maximum of £3,225 ($4,800) per year
for tuition (“DirectGov”)
. As of 2007, students who
live in Scotland, for example, can attend university in Scotland free
(“Scottish Government”). The tuition fees that are paid by loans are
loans taken out from the government, which are then repayed to the
govenment after a student graduates and earns a certain level of income
(Barr, and Crawford 2,4). If a student graduates and doesn’t make above
a threshold salary, the loan won’t collect interest and the loan won’t
have to be repayed until the graduate finds a sustainable occupation.
This is quite different than the US in that students often pay interest
on their loan while they’re studying (unsubsidized), otherwise loans
begins to collect after you graduate (subsidized), regardless of whether
the graduate finds a job or not.
The average price of tuition and fees for a four-year public American
university is $7,020/year (for in-state students) (“Trends in College
Pricing 2009 – CollegeBoard” 2). Out of state students typically pay
two or three times as much as an in-state student in order to keep the
state-to-state funding balanced. In the American education, since the
cost of education is much higher, one could say that the responsiblity
of learning is up to both the student and the school, since the students
are paying the school to educate them. Although much of the learning
is done when a student is studying for a final, most of the learning
occurs when students are completing homework throughout the course of
the year.
The differences in endowments between UK and US universities is
massive. In the UK, only Cambridge and Oxford have endowments that are
even close to the top US universities. Oxford and Cambridge each have
endowments of £2B ($3.5B), which would rank 15th on the US list, while
no other UK university would rank in the top 150 (“Sutton Trust” 1,4).
207 US universities have endowments over £100M (about $150M), while only
five UK universities have endowments over that. Additionally, the top
500 universities in the US have an average endowment that is fifteen
times that of the top 100 universities in the UK (“Sutton Trust” 1,4).
These figures give a rough idea of how much more money is flowing
through US universities than UK universities, and the price of
university in each is reflected by this.
Culture Similarities and Differences
The culture of a US university, Colorado School of Mines, has
different distinguishing features to aid education. During the school
session, students are expected to be fully engaged in learning, and the
professors assign graded homework to force students to practice solving
problems and analyze situations related to their field of study. In
general, US universities have less time off, and therefore have more
contact hours with the faculty (in the UK, contact hours range from 5-20
hours a week as a full time student. For each contact hour, the
European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) suggests 1.5 hours of individual
study
[(Stefanovi?)]). Even during the time when
classes aren’t in session, it is a common practice for professors to
assign work in order to keep students actively learning. It isn’t
uncommon to attend class all day, and then go home and study much of the
night, every night of the school week. In fact, it is suggested that
for every contact hour of class, a student should spend 3-4 hours
revising the material (this is primarily at CSM, but is common
throughout the US).
In order to further compare the similarities and differences between
UK and US education (specifically around university level), lets look at
the two universities that I’ve attended: Colorado School of Mines (CSM)
in the US vs. Leeds University (LU) in the UK. To begin, these
universities differ vastly in terms of what each university represents.
CSM is a school of roughly 4,000 students, 3,000 of which are
undergraduate. The primary focus of the school is engineering,
mathematics, and computer science. LU on the other hand is a school of
over 30,000 students and focuses on nearly ever field of study known.
Therefore, the comparisons made are based on these two universities and
are likely to differ as if the comparison was between LU and UCLA for
example (two schools with a smilar number of students and fields of
study). Additionally, at CSM (and most other US universities), students
study for four years to get their bachelors degree, while at LU (and
most other UK universities), students study for three years to get their
bachelors degree or four years to get their masters degree. This alone
implies that the structure of each system is very much different.
I studied at CSM for my first two years of university, and spent my
third year in England at LU. The first two years at CSM are roughly
equivalent to ‘college’ in the UK, which are the two years preceding
university. At CSM, the first two years are full of general classes to
get all students onto the same playing field. The third and fourth year
are the years where students specialize in their field of study –
Electrical Engineering (EE) in my case. At LU, students begin their
first year by jumping right into their field of study. This means that
up until I studied at LU, I had taken no courses which specialize in
EE. When I went to LU, I had to pick courses that would transfer back,
which leads to some interesting observations in the education systems.
Since students study for three years at LU (and all three years are
full of courses directed at their field of study), I had to decide what
level I should studying at. Before I left, I assumed I should take
level one and two courses (1st and 2nd year modules) since I had no
understanding of EE other than the basics that I learned during my first
two years at CSM. Knowing that I would be graduating 1 year after
returning from England, I also guessed that I should take level two and
three modules, which in the end I did complete. Another issue was
courses in England often last a full year (two semesters), while courses
at CSM at always are 1 semester. Therefore, finding equivalent courses
that would allow me to graduate on time was quite difficult.
In the EE department at LU, professors record most lectures via video
and post it online. This allows students to go back and watch past
lectures if needed. It also allows students who are direct entry
students into second year to go back and watch the 1st year lectures.
Every module I took at LU was recorded or documented well enough that I
was able to catch up and understand the material. I found that first
year in the EE department was a very basic introduction into EE topics
such as optoelectronics, power systems, and basic math revision. Second
year was a continuation of first year – meaning students took the same
courses, just at a more in-depth level (i.e. optoelectronics 2, power
systems 2, etc.). Additionally, during the first two weeks of the year,
the second year professors did a thorough review of the first year
topics so students could be refreshed on the material. Because of the
way students study in the UK, this is a very necessary part of the
courses, and helped me greatly in getting on the same playing field as
all the other students. I found that the math courses were quite easy
in terms of the material (it was all review for me), while the specific
EE courses were still basic, but all the material was new. This is due
to the fact that CSM focuses on math/science, which put me on a
different level than the second year students at LU (whose focus isn’t
just math/science).
The method of teaching modules/courses in LU differs from CSM. At
CSM, professors typically will lecture twice a week, and in addition,
students will get hands on work over the material that was lectured on.
This would include either a lab or simply working problems to practice
analyzing the material. Homework is also assigned to force students to
learn outside of class. At LU, lectures are once, or twice a week at
most. These lectures almost always consist of the professors running a
powerpoint presentation, and at the same time handing out the
presentation on paper for students to follow along. Homework is rarely
be assigned, and if it is, it is typically not graded. Because of this
method of teaching, students at LU have much more time outside of class
which enables them to get out to the pub and socialize, relax, and meet
new people. You could say that CSM (and other US universities) invites a
more rigorous academic life at the expense of the social scene, while
LU (and UK universites in general) gives active social development
priority over building a strong intellectual background.
This leads into the vast differences of ethos between UK and US
universities, specifically LU and CSM. Students typically head to
university in the UK to ‘have fun’, placing that above the fact that
they need to learn. Since the entire culture accepts this, a typical
year will consist of one or two tests per class (one midterm worth
15-20% of the grade and one final consisting of the remaining 85-80% of
the grade). Students typically attend class for an hour or two a day,
and then head out to socialize with friends. This continues until about
3 weeks before exam time. During exam time, students dedicate
themselves by locking themselves in their rooms and studying/revising
the material of the entire year in 3 weeks. Additionally, at LU it is
not uncommon to find a full time student attending classes for under 10
hours a week. At CSM, there is a minimum threshold of 14 credit hours
in order to be a full time student (“Colorado School of Mines”
Outreach).
Part of the education at British universities is not just to learn a
field of study, but to also be socially active and learn about/from the
people around you. It is very common for a British student union to
have pubs/bars/lounges. This is connected to the relaxed atmosphere
that the British education has – while you study, you have time to
relax. But when it is exam time, you are expected to be fully focused
on learning your field of study.
On the other hand, students go to US universities not necessarily to
‘have fun’, but instead to learn. The culture is built in a way which
accepts this, and the price of university shows. Many claim that the
price of university in the US is what causes the faculty to take such a
large responsibility in a students learning. However, I disagree with
this. The price is high simply because that is the way the culture has
run universities for so long. UK universities are cheap because the UK
is quite nationalized, meaning the goverment ‘standardizes’ a lot. For
example, most loans taken out by students for university costs in the UK
are from the goverment, and not a third party lender (like they are in
the US). Health care and university costs are equal for everyone who is
from the UK, no matter which university you go to or what dentist you
use. The responsibility of learning in both the US and the UK lies on
the students (no matter which country you’re in). In the US they don’t
assign homework in order to make the faculty do their job, they do it
because it is a proven method of learning that works. The UK doesn’t
use homework as a teaching method as much simply because they would
rather see a student having a cultivating social life than being locked
in a room studying when they are outside of the classroom.
This leads to different motivations of students attending
university. Students in the UK are less motivated to study, because
they have rarely had to consistently study since that is the way their
education has always been. Students in the US are typically motivated
to study more because a higher GPA can give you scholarships and grants,
and these students are used to studying on a regular basis.
Nonetheless, the expectations of students when they receive their degree
are quite similar. A large percent of students in the UK study for 3
years to get a bachelor’s degree, and then study 1 additional year to
receive a masters (see expectations below).
In the US,
particularly at CSM, students tend to study hard for 4 years, graduate
with a bachelors and get a fairly good job. According to Payscale as of
2010, CSM has an average starting salary of $61,600, with a ‘mid-career
average salary’ of $113,00 (“PayScale”). LU has an average starting
salary of £18,000 ($27,000), with a ‘mid-career average salary’ of
£42,000 ($63,000) (“PayScale” Leeds).
The expectations of students graduating from
universities in the UK and US are somewhat different. Becoming a
professional engineer in the US varies from state to state. However,
the general process requires a degree from an accredited 4-year
university, passing an engineering test after graduating, and then
working in industry for 3-4 years, where another test is then assessed
(“Model Law”). In the UK, becoming a charted (professional) engineer
typically requires a 3-year bachelors degree, as well as an additional 1
year masters degree. Furthermore, they must work in industry until
they can demonstrate that they are professionaly competent. This
process ranges from 4-8 years to complete after graduation (“Charted
Engineering”). Comparing the US and UK, both processes analyze
individuals based on their education, their experience, and their
ability to perform as a professional engineer, and both countries
produce quality engineers.
The student union’s also differ immensely in terms of the what they
represent. In the UK and in the US, the union is run by a group of
students (who are typically elected by the student body). These
students make the union become what the students want. At CSM, the
union is a place to relax, grab some food, or study. The union at LU is
there to shop, get food, go to the bar, and party with fellow
students. Studying at the LU union is practically unheard of. The
purpose that each union serves is clear, and it is also shows the clear
differences between US and UK university cultures.
There is a big variance in the grading system in universities in the
UK and the US. At CSM (and US universities in general), the grading
scale is from 0-100, with 100 being the highest. This means if you get
5/100, you get a 5%. Passing is typically 60% and above (anything below
this is considered an F which is failing). Additionally, 90-100% is
considered an ‘A’, 80-89% is a ‘B’, 70-79% is a D, and 60-69% is a D.
Each letter grade is then put onto a 4.0 scale (A being a 4.0, B being a
3.0, etc.). This scale is then averaged together and a grade point
average (GPA) is caluclated. This allows schools/employers to get a
rough idea of how a student has performed at their time in university.
