United States

Coordinates: 40°N 100°W / 40°N 100°W / 40; -100

The United States of America (USA), commonly referred to as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a federal republic composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major territories and various possessions. The 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C., are in central North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwestern part of North America and the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. At 3.8 million square miles (9.842 million km²) and with over 320 million people, the country is the world's third or fourth-largest by total area and the third most populous. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries. The geography and climate of the United States are also extremely diverse, and the country is home to a wide variety of wildlife.

Military academy

A military academy or service academy (in American English) is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps of the army, the navy, marine corps, air force or coast guard. It normally provides education in a military environment, the exact definition depending on the country concerned.

Three types of academy exist: high school-level institutions awarding academic qualifications, university-level institutions awarding bachelor's degree level qualification, and those preparing officer cadets for commissioning into the armed services of the state.

History

The first military academies were established in the 18th century to provide future officers for technically specialized corps, such as engineers and artillery, with scientific training.

The Royal Danish Naval Academy was set up in 1701, making it the oldest military academy, to existing in the world. The Royal Military Academy, Woolwich was set up in 1720 as the earliest military academy in Britain. Its original purpose was to train cadets entering the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. In France, the École Royale du Génie at Mézières was founded in 1748, followed by a non-technical academy in 1751, the École Royale Militaire offering a general military education to the nobility. French military academies were widely copied in Prussia, Austria, Russia and even minor powers, including Turin and the Kingdom of Savoy, in the late 18th century.

United States Military Academy

The United States Military Academy at West Point (USMA), also known as West Point, Army, The Academy or simply The Point, is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in West Point, New York. The academy, located in Orange County, sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, 50 miles (80 km) north of New York City. The Academy traces its roots to 1801, when, shortly after his inauguration, President Thomas Jefferson directed that plans be set in motion to establish at West Point the United States Military Academy. The entire central campus is a national landmark and home to scores of historic sites, buildings, and monuments. The majority of the campus's Norman buildings are constructed from gray and black granite. The campus is a popular tourist destination complete with a large visitor center and the oldest museum in the United States Army.

Candidates for admission must both apply directly to the academy and receive a nomination, usually from a member of Congress or Delegate/Resident Commissioner in the case of Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Virgin Islands. Other nomination sources include the President and Vice President of the United States. Students are officers-in-training and are referred to as "cadets" or collectively as the "United States Corps of Cadets" (USCC). Tuition for cadets is fully funded by the Army in exchange for an active duty service obligation upon graduation. Approximately 1,300 cadets enter the Academy each July, with about 1,000 cadets graduating.

College

College (Latin: collegium) is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. Usage of the word college varies in English-speaking nations. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate university, or an institution offering vocational education.

In the United States and Italy, "college" formally refers to a constituent part of a university, but generally "college" and "university" are used interchangeably, whereas in Oceania and South Asia, "college" may refer to a secondary or high school, a college of further education, a training institution that awards trade qualifications, or a constituent part of a university (See this comparison of British and American English educational terminology for further information).

Etymology

In ancient Rome a collegium was a club or society, a group of people living together under a common set of rules (con- = "together" + leg- = "law" or lego = "I choose" or "I read").

Overview

Higher education

University

A university (Latin: universitas, "a whole") is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which grants academic degrees in various subjects and typically provides undergraduate education and postgraduate education. The word "university" is derived from the Latin universitas magistrorum et scholarium, which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars."

History

Definition

The original Latin word "universitas" refers in general to "a number of persons associated into one body, a society, company, community, guild, corporation, etc." At the time of the emergence of urban town life and medieval guilds, specialised "associations of students and teachers with collective legal rights usually guaranteed by charters issued by princes, prelates, or the towns in which they were located" came to be denominated by this general term. Like other guilds, they were self-regulating and determined the qualifications of their members.

In modern usage the word has come to mean "An institution of higher education offering tuition in mainly non-vocational subjects and typically having the power to confer degrees," with the earlier emphasis on its corporate organization considered as applying historically to Medieval universities.