Public /State Universities-
Public universities or State universities receive some public-sector funding, via State Government. We at times call them as colleges or schools, when it comes to talking about specific disciplines say Law of School or College of Engineering. Some State universities in different locations collectively form a state university system working under some shared management and administration. Say, for example, SUNY (Sunny University System of New York) is one of the largest state university systems comprising of more than 60 universities spread across the state of New York.
The public universities charge lower fees than private because of the state funding. However, what the students pay vary widely due to the financial aid. There are two slabs of fees- lower for ‘in-state/resident students’ and the higher for the ‘out-of-state’ applicants. International students pay the same as out-of-state applicants or another international category of fees. Leading public universities are University of Michigan, University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA)
Community colleges-
The community colleges or the junior colleges are supported by the state funding, where a student can choose a 2-year associate’s degree or a comprehensive 4-year bachelor’s one. It’s pertinent to note that an associate’s degree forms a base for a bachelor’s one and has the flexibility of allowing to continue the remaining two years in any other college of a different location in the U.S. The community colleges are smaller in size than the other university types in the U.S. and often form a system like the public universities. We can here consider the CCCS, the California Community Colleges System, as a very prominent example governing more than 100 community colleges across the State.
Private Universities (non-profit)-
Accounting for substantial number of enrolments, the private universities stand out as globally acclaimed institutions with national and international rankings. The overall fees in private universities are higher than the public ones. However, the initial striker fee may be pretty low for the highly esteemed private universities thanks to the financial aid provided. Some noteworthy ones are Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Harvard, Caltech, Columbia, John Hopkins, Yale.
Liberal arts colleges-
These colleges focus on teaching liberal arts and sciences. Being small in class size and enrolments, students choose majors and other trans-disciplinary areas of study. The motto of such colleges revolves round academic development, strong teaching and overall development of students. University of Mary, Washington, Amherst College in Massachusetts, Pomona College in Claremont, California are some colleges of excellence in this category.
Private universities (for-profit)-
For-profit private universities work towards making profit for their shareholders, keeping up to the spirit of providing education with excellence. There has been stringent regulations and strong critiques on ROI for students spending handsome amount towards education in these universities.
