Education in the United States is free and compulsory for 0 years, beginning at age and culminating at age 16

Eligibility Requirements
Students who wish to earn a Bachelor, Master or Doctorate degree in the United States must first apply for admittance into one of the thousands of colleges and universities in the country, both public and private. Each institution sets its own policy for admission, but the minimum requirement at all U.S. institutions is a high school diploma. Other criterion that colleges and universities will look at prior to admittance includes:

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  Grade point average (GPA)
  
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  The difficulty (or lack thereof) of the course load
  
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  SAT and ACT scores (college entrance exams taken in a student’s final year of high school)
  
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  School involvement (clubs, sports teams, student government, etc.)
  
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  Community service
  
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  Student essay
  

 
Naturally, the eligibility requirements of the larger public colleges are not nearly as rigid as some of the more prestigious private universities, such as Harvard, Yale and Stanford, where only the brightest of students across the country are admitted each year.
Degree Structure
The degree structure at America’s colleges and universities is very similar to that of other North American and many European countries. It includes:

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  Bachelor Degree. A Bachelor Degree program, whether you’re pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree or a Bachelor of Arts degree, will typically span four years in duration, assuming you attend school full-time and have access to all the classes you need. The exact time to complete the program will, of course, depend on the institution and the subject area in which you are focusing your studies.
  
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  Master’s Degree.  The time required to complete a Master of Science or Master of Arts degree ranges from two to three years for full-time students (after earning a Bachelor degree). Like with the Bachelor degree, the exact time to complete the degree will depend on the aforementioned factors.
  
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