Seminar paper from the year 2007 in the subject American Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1,7, University of Mannheim, language: English, abstract: The United States educational system is divided into three levels: elementary (or primary), secondary, and higher education. This paper will deal with the development of the American higher education, and in particular, the development of American universities and colleges. The first chapter of my term paper provides an overview of American higher education, looking at both the strengths and weaknesses of the system. The U.S. higher education system is very costly for the individual student. The cost of education itself acts as a filter, excluding those who cannot afford it. Whilst parents and students can obtain financial aid itself, economics often determines whether higher education is an option after high-school or not. Such financial obstacles are problem for many students in United States. That's why I am going to show some facts and possibilities of sources of support. In the second chapter, my term paper shall look at the private sector in higher education, which is a very important issue in the support of higher education in the latter part of the twentieth century. More than two million students are studying in private institutions in the United States. The American private sector is the world's largest (Geiger: 1986). It may be useful to examine the advantages and disadvantages of the main different private universities and colleges in United States and namely between Private Research Universities, Large Urban Private Universities and Liberal Arts Colleges. Then I am going to focus on the history and development of the black universities and colleges. Their number has increased during the years and to visualize this fact I am going to present a statistical overview of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU s) from 1976 to 2001.This term paper aims to show the historical perspectives, development, innovations, advantages and disadvantages in the American higher education. With current statistics and researches I will try to give an objective overview of American higher education.

The United States educational system is divided into three levels: elementary (or primary), secondary, and higher education. This paper will deal with the development of the American higher education, and in particular, the development of American universities and colleges. The first chapter of my term paper provides an overview of American higher education, looking at both the strengths and weaknesses of the system. The U.S. higher education system is very costly for the individual student. The cost of education itself acts as a filter, excluding those who cannot afford it. Whilst parents and students can obtain financial aid itself, economics often determines whether higher education is an option after high-school or not. Such financial obstacles are problem for many students in United States. That's why I am going to show some facts and possibilities of sources of support. In the second chapter, my term paper shall look at the private sector in higher education, which is a very important issue in the support of higher education in the latter part of the twentieth century. More than two million students are studying in private institutions in the United States. The American private sector is the world's largest (Geiger: 1986). It may be useful to examine the advantages and disadvantages of the main different private universities and colleges in United States and namely between Private Research Universities, Large Urban Private Universities and Liberal Arts Colleges. Then I am going to focus on the history and development of the black universities and colleges. Their number has increased during the years and to visualize this fact I am going to present a statistical overview of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU s) from 1976 to 2001. This term paper aims to show the historical perspectives, development, innovations, advantages and disadvantages in the American higher education. With current statistics and researches I will try to give an objective overview of American higher education.