Study in State of California - top 205 institutions in State of California

• Modern schools with excellent infrastructure

Private schools in California enjoy a number of tax benefits, which allows you to make education better, and the range of available opportunities is wider. Wealthy school graduates and corporations in the IT sector often donate entire laboratories, stadiums or residences to private schools.

• First-class higher education

The state is famous for its universities that offer advanced teaching methods, big libraries and laboratories of various profiles, powerful computers, magnificent campuses, where there is everything you need for a comfortable life and study. And, of course, a bright future! Two universities - Stanford in Silicon Valley and the famous Caltech, the California Institute of Technology, are located on the 6th and 9th lines in the world, and another 11 local universities are included in the QS 500.

• Cultural diversity

The sunny and hospitable state is a point of attraction for migrants: their number creates a unique environment, Babylon in miniature, an endless mixture of colors, customs and traditions, cultural events and colorful holidays, from dozens of versions of the New Year to the paradoxical and attractive Day of the Dead.

• Weather

California can get very hot, but the weather is mildly warm for most of the year, and in the south, sunshine and warmth reign year-round. On the other hand, there are quite snowy winters north of Sacramento, which will appeal to winter sports enthusiasts.

• Ecology

The state adheres to the principles of sustainable development and cares about the environment, improves energy, public transport and green infrastructure, and environmental legislation is considered one of the most progressive and ambitious in the world - for example, by 2045 it plans to achieve carbon neutrality.

• Many benefits for graduates

A diploma from almost any of the California colleges has not only applied, but also abstract value, elevating its holder to an unattainable height and promising significant advantages in the course of finding a job not only in the United States, but also in European countries.

• High requirements for students

Since local universities are the best, they impose commensurate requirements on their students, which not everyone can meet. It is recommended to correlate ambitions and capabilities before submitting documents.

• Overpopulation

California cities are very densely populated, especially in the southern part, where the infrastructure was not designed for such a load and sometimes cannot cope with the needs of millions of people. You need to be prepared, for example, for traffic jams, expensive products and rent.

• Dearness

Average salaries in the state are higher than the national average, but the difficulty is that the cost of living is even higher — by 41% on average. The same situation is with the price of obtaining a diploma or certificate, rent, gasoline, utility bills and food.

The rudiments of school education arose here at the end of the XVIII century: the first school opened in San Jose in 1794, followed by a dozen more small schools in the region, where lessons were taught by retired soldiers and officers of the colonial army.

The governors of Mexico tried to solve the problem of education, but to no avail – the central government did not want to support the colonial entity for fear that Mexico would secede. It was not until 1833 that the first private preparatory school, the Colegio de San Jose, appeared in Salinas, and in 1851, after the annexation of the United States, Notre Dame High School became the first to issue diplomas to girls. In 1850, out of 26 thousand people, there were only 350 literate people in the state. The new authorities actively took up education, creating a stable system of public education in just 4 years.

Already in 1851, the first university, Santa Clara College, was opened, and the beginning of the state system was laid in 1857 with the opening of the California State Normal School (later San Jose State University). The famous Berkeley was founded two years earlier as the College of California.

Each American state is almost an independent state, some even have its own secretary of state (California does not) and each state has its own model of education.

Kindergartens in California

Unlike some other states, preschool education in California is not an obligation, but only an opportunity, and usually paid for (although up to 20% of families can count on compensation for the cost of kindergarten places or free places). Kindergartens can be both public (starting from 3 years old) and private, from 3 months. For a private kindergarten, you will have to pay from 500 to 3000 USD per month. The programs are very diverse, there are no uniform standards, there are several kindergartens for Montessori and IB programs.

Schools in California

All children over the age of 6 who are in the state, both Americans and foreigners, are required to attend school. Since this is an obligation, the California authorities are obliged to provide a place in the school, admission to the first grade of public schools is carried out without exams (although expat children must pass the CELTD – California English Language Development Test to help them find the best program for them).

Private schools in California are valued much higher - according to this, the state ranks 9th in the national ranking. Private schools can be denominational or independent, charter schools should be considered separately. California's best independent high schools are located in major coastal cities, with some of them ranking nationally.

As for the cost, in primary schools we are talking about 10000-12000 USD per year for a day school and about 30000-35000 USD for boarding schools; Secondary schools will cost 15000-18000 and 32000-50000 USD, respectively.

Independent schools are completely autonomous in terms of the content of academic and extracurricular programs: there are schools that offer the traditional American K-12, IB, A-level, Scottish and some others (or several at once). The only condition is that they need to obtain accreditation from one or more agencies with the appropriate authority.

Higher education

The local model of higher education is based on the California Master Plan for Higher Education, adopted in the mid-1960s; It was recognized as exemplary, perhaps the best at the national level, and for this reason, a similar model is now used in 39 states.

The structure of higher education in the state is multi-stage. At the first level, there are community colleges: there are more than a hundred of them, and 1.6 million students study there. You should not neglect the opportunities that a community college provides: good study here allows you to transfer to a state university with the help of a transition without the need to take any additional exams. This scheme allows you to significantly save on tuition fees, because a year in college is significantly cheaper than a year at university, so sophisticated applicants often enter a community college, graduate from it, and then move on to the 3rd year at the desired university.

Graduates of community colleges can proceed to complete higher education - bachelor's degree. The holder of such a diploma can continue their academic path by obtaining a master's degree or PhD. A separate track consists of legal, medical, veterinary and pharmacological specialties.

In general, there are over 120 universities in the state of California, and more than 800 thousand people study in the two largest ones. There are both government universities, such as California State University (the largest US government university in the United States with half a million students) or the University of California (260 thousand students, considered the most serious public research institute west of Chicago), and private ones: Stanford, the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), the University of Southern California (famous for its wide network of international contacts and many authoritative studies, the third in the the largest fund of private donations), the forge of Hollywood personnel of the University of California Los Angeles - UCLA (45th line in the Times HE), whose diploma is so authoritative and influential that it guarantees graduates de facto automatic employment.

There are also very small universities with a maximum of a thousand students. Some have a narrow specialization, they are branches of foreign universities or organizations from other states. Finally, there are universities and colleges that exist with the support of religious communities. With such striking differences, they are united by a common thing - the high quality of the services provided, the prestige of the diploma and excellent conditions for studying and conducting research in almost any direction.

The Californian economy largely forms the demand for higher education itself. There are a number of key areas that account for up to 80% of students:

• agriculture and forestry;
• extraction and processing of non-metallic minerals, primarily gas and shale oil;
• ICT;
• Entertainment, film, music and theater.

Among expats studying in California, other specialties are also in the greatest demand.

IT and engineering in general

The state houses offices and production facilities, laboratories and research centers of several hundred transnational corporations working in the field of high technology, which together account for up to 1.5% of global GDP. The lion's share is located in Silicon Valley, Stanford and other state universities serve as its talent foundry.

The cost of training for bachelor's programs ranges from $26000 to $52000 per year, for master's and PhD programs — from $30000.

Social Sciences, Business and Medicine

In a huge staff, there is a lot of work for economists, businessmen, doctors of various profiles and lawyers, but more than half of the students in these specialties are foreigners. One of the best is Davis, one of the colleges of the University of California.

A year of study for expats will cost $40000-70000, depending on the program.

Entertainment industry

The state is home not only to the world-famous film studio, but also to the three largest (in the world) specialized universities:

• the University of Southern California Film School;
• Department of Film and Multimedia at the University of California, Berkeley;
• UCLA (Los Angeles).

Together, they graduate up to 80 thousand specialists every year, a year of study there costs $ 32000-77000.