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and paid for them.
Once a student has completed all the necessary coursework,
and passed the classes with a high enough grade, he or she is eli-
gible for a bachelor's degree - either a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) or a
Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree. It usually takes four years to
finish an undergraduate degree, although many students take
longer because they need to work to pay tuition.

GRADUATE STUDIES

After earning a bachelor's degree, a student can go on to
graduate school to work on a master's degree (M.A.). This usually
takes one or two years of further studies. Many students will start
work on a master's degree after they have been working for a
while; a master's degree has almost become a requirement for
advancement in many careers, so it has become more common for
people to get a higher degree.
A master's degree can be followed by a doctorate, or Ph.D.,
which requires up to four more years of study, plus a dissertation
(a doctoral thesis).
The course of study for a Ph.D. is not the same type of course
as that for a D.Phil. The American doctorate is a combination of
taught courses, exams, and a dissertation.

FINANCING

The one very real question that determines whether someone
can go to college is whether they can afford it. Since all colleges
and universities, even those run by the states, charge tuition and
fees, a student has to pay anywhere between $2,000 and $35,000
per year to attend a four-year college. The total will depend on
what type of college a student chooses: publicly funded state uni-
versities are the less expensive option, and private colleges are the
most expensive.