A French family reads the American university system with landmarks that do not apply: no three-year licence in a single subject, no competitive entrance exam, no split between universities and grandes écoles. Before choosing a list of universities or preparing for the SAT, you need to understand how the degree is built, because that decides what the student will do with their four years.
The American undergraduate degree: four years, many subjects
EducationUSA, the State Department's information network, sums it up in one sentence: American undergraduate education is based on the liberal arts and sciences, and students take classes in many subjects in addition to their major. The bachelor's degree usually takes four years of full-time study. Each course earns credits, and each institution sets the number required to graduate; a total of 120 semester credits, or 30 a year, is a common order of magnitude.
A student therefore enters university without having definitively chosen their main subject, the major. At Harvard, a student cannot declare their concentration before the third semester, and does so in November of the second year. At Stanford, the major must be declared by the spring of the second year.
The core curriculum
Some universities impose a common core on all students. The best known is Columbia's: five required courses, Literature Humanities, Contemporary Civilization, Art Humanities, Music Humanities and Frontiers of Science, plus writing, courses on other cultures, a language, sciences and physical education. Elsewhere, as at Brown with its Open Curriculum, students build their programme almost freely. These differences weigh in the choice of university, and they should show in the essays.
Universities, colleges and community colleges
The word "college" covers both a large university and a small institution that teaches only undergraduates. Liberal arts colleges, smaller, focus on the bachelor's degree. Research universities add master's and doctoral programmes and laboratories, in which the best undergraduates can take part.
Community colleges award a two-year degree. EducationUSA describes the "2+2" model: two years at a community college, then a transfer to a university to earn the same bachelor's degree as students who entered directly, often at less than half the cost.
Public or private, and what it costs
Public universities belong to a state: Michigan, Virginia, California. They charge students from that state less than others, and a French student pays the rate for students from elsewhere. Private universities, such as Harvard, Stanford or MIT, have a single, high tuition, and some have substantial aid programmes for families who qualify.
| Type of institution | Average published tuition and fees, 2025-2026 |
|---|---|
| Public community college (in-district) | $4,150 |
| Public university, in-state student | $11,950 |
| Public university, out-of-state student | $31,880 |
| Private nonprofit university | $45,000 |
These are national averages, excluding housing and food, and fees vary widely from one university to another. For scholarships open to French students, see Scholarships for an American university.
2025-2026 figures. Average fees published by the College Board in Trends in College Pricing 2025; major declaration rules published by Harvard and Stanford; core curriculum described by Columbia College. Fees rise every year.
There is no official ranking
EducationUSA points it out: there is no official ranking of American universities, and the best one is the one that suits the student, academically, financially and personally. For a French family used to rankings of prépas and grandes écoles, it is the most important change: the list is built on the student's plan, not on a league table.
That is the work we do with families at Carmine: understanding the system, building a balanced list, preparing the application. For the application process itself, see Studying in the United States after the bac and The Common App from a French lycée.