Education in the United States is provided in public, private, and home schools. State governments set overall educational standards, often mandate standardized tests for K–12 public school systems and supervise, usually through a board of regents, state colleges, and universities. The bulk of the $1.3 trillion in funding comes from state and local governments, with federal funding accounting for only about $200 billion.
[2] Private schools are free to determine their own curriculum and staffing policies, with voluntary accreditation available through independent regional accreditation authorities, although some state regulation can apply.
In 2013, about 87% of school-age children (those below higher education) attended state funded public schools, about 10% attended tuition- and foundation-funded private schools,[8] and roughly 3% were home-schooled
.[9]
By state law, education is compulsory over an age range starting between five and eight and ending somewhere between ages sixteen and eighteen, depending on the state.
[10] This requirement can be satisfied in public schools, state-certified private schools, or an approved home school program. In most schools, compulsory education is divided into three levels: elementary school, middle or junior high school, and high school. Children are usually divided by age groups into grades, ranging from kindergarten (5 to 6-year-olds) and first grade (6 to 7-year-olds) for the youngest children, up to twelfth grade (17 to 18-year-olds) as the final year of high school.
There is also a large number and wide variety of publicly and privately administered colleges and universities throughout the country. Post-secondary education is divided into college, as the first tertiary degree, and graduate school. Higher education includes extremely wealthy and selective universities, public research universities, private liberal arts colleges, historically black colleges and universities, community colleges, for-profit colleges, and many other kinds and combinations of institutions. College enrollment rates in the United States have increased over the long term.
[11] At the same time, student loan debt has also risen to $1.5 trillion. According to a 2016 report published by the U.S. News & World Report, of the top ten colleges and universities in the world, eight are American (the other two are Oxford and Cambridge, in the United Kingdom).[12]
