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Colleges and Universities More than 60 percent of all high school graduates continue their formal education after graduation. Many attend colleges that offer four-year programs leading to a bachelors degree. College students are called undergraduates, and their four years of study are divided into the freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years. In most colleges the first two years are designed to provide a broad general education, and during this time the college student is usually required to take courses in general areas of study, such as English, science, foreign languages, and social science. By the junior year the student begins to major in one particular field of study, or discipline. Some institutions of higher learning offer only the four-year college program. A university offers graduate or post-college programs, as well. Graduate degrees in fields such as English literature, chemistry, and history are granted by graduate schools of arts and sciences. These schools may offer one- or two-year programs leading to a masters degree , and programs lasting three years or more that lead to the degree of doctor of Philosophy . A candidate for a Ph. D. must meet certain course requirements in his field, pass written and oral examinations, and present a written thesis based on original research. Some universities offer postdoctoral programs that extend study and research beyond the Ph. D. Many universities also have what are called professional schools for study in such fields as law, medicine, engineering, architecture, social work, business, library science, and education. Professional schools differ widely in their requirements for admission and the lengths of their programs. Medical students, for example, must complete at least three years of premedical studies at an undergraduate school before they can enter the three- or four-year program at a medical school. Engineering and architecture students, on the other hand, can enter a four- or five-year professional school immediately upon completion of secondary school. | 
