| The establishment of Johns Hopkins marks the beginning of a new era about American graduate education which has pioneered the operation of graduate school above the undergraduate college. Therefore, American higher education gradually formed peculiar two-tiered system——one is school or undergraduate tier while another is college or graduate tier. At the macro level of American higher education, two-tiered system is composed of elite colleges( research university) and ordinary colleges(state university and community college) while at the micro level of inner organization, it is platforms of the undergraduate and graduate in research-oriented university.Two-tiered system went through the asymptotical process of establishing of graduate school, halting the undergraduate college and forming two-tiered system. There are several reasons about the formation of two-tiered system: from the aspects of retainin undergraduate college, first of all, given the educational level of that day, American universities made it impossible to carry out German-style graduate education; secondly,universities retained undergraduate college to appeal to continuously donation of alumnus; Thirdly, democratization of higher education enabled undergraduate college to be fundamental organizational form; Fourthly, alumnus’ particular complex to undergraduate college made it to be reserved although it was halted several times. From the aspects of graduate college, in the first place, American scholar who have studied in Germany and German teachers who teached in American university praised highly German university mode which fostered the development of graduate education; In the next place, extensive establishment of graduate college made graduate tier be equate with undergraduate tier; In addition, Council of Graduate Schools in the United States prompted graduate college to be official component of American higher education system. But the root cause is political theory philosophy of higher education which make American universities can not fully accept pure rationalism and create a newly high-level talent training pattern—— graduate college which take up study of "pure science". Meanwhile it retains undergraduate college to carry out the function of intellect training and provide better services for the public.Organization forms of two-tiered system are various. The types of undergraduate tier can be devided into undergraduate college, school of Arts and Sciences and professional schools blended undergraduate students and graduate students. The types of graduate tier can be devided into graduate college, graduate school and blended graduate college. The reason why types of two-tiered system are various is that the feature of American higher education system is free market mode. The exoteric system enables universities to be social-oriented, competed with others and form distinctive characteristic. However, the inner factors of two-tiered system such as teacher,curriculum is overlapping rather than collateral, which indicate the relation of two-tiered system: undergraduate tier is the fundation of graduate tier,and graduate tier is promotion to undergraduate tier. What’s more,the boundary between each other is more and more vague.Two-tiered system caters for the national and social requirements for different standard talents. What’s more, it creates teaching by research in undergraduate tier and research by teaching in graduate tier. In addition, the cooperation of two tiers is beneficial for rational allocation of material resources. But it is not flawless, the most obvious problem that it brings is the contradiction between teaching and scientific research.Teachers who teach undergraduate students and graduate students do not have enough energy to do research which did harm to advanced education. And two-tiered system tend to be unbalance in that graduate education is paid greater attention especially after the Second World War, resulted in the quality of undergraduate deteriorated. |
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