Universities

Public Universities

Public colleges or universities are institutions of higher education funded by the state government. All US states have them. Generally speaking, it’s cheaper to attend public colleges or universities than private ones. They are also typically larger and more populated and offer a larger selection of academic majors. 

Like private colleges and universities, public institutions of higher education offer financial aid, too. As a matter of fact, both public and private ones offer federal financial aid. The amount of financial aid awarded at public colleges and universities, however, is lower than that of the average at private schools. 

Many public universities have a large number of in-state students due to the lower costs of in-state tuition. Some public universities are even required to accept a certain percentage of students from their state in order to keep their funding.  

Liberal Arts Colleges

A liberal arts college is a four-year undergraduate institution that takes a broader approach to education by focusing on the arts, sciences, humanities, and social sciences. Instead of helping you prepare for a specific career, such as business or computer science, a liberal arts curriculum encourages you to develop an appreciation for many subjects and practice critical thinking skills. As such, you can pursue many careers after graduating.  

Private colleges are institutions that are privately funded. Most of their funding comes from donations and tuition, as opposed to taxes and federal funding. Private colleges include liberal arts colleges, religious colleges, fine arts colleges, and more. Some private institutions even focus on a specific field like medicine or business. 

While public colleges and universities are funded by the government, private colleges and universities rely more on tuition and endowments. Private institutions are often smaller than public institutions, which means that they have smaller class sizes. Because of their smaller size, though, many private colleges and universities offer fewer degree programs. 

Ivy League Colleges

The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference of eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Dartmouth, Cornell, Brown, and the University of Pennsylvania)