I was so happy to have my fears assuaged that I pissed myself in joy......or it may be this aging thing has stepped it up a notch...................

We use "school" for all levels but in conversation and to clarify, the breakdown goes like this:

The law requires 12 years (grade levels) of education generally preceded by a year of Kindergarten. The lower grades are sometimes referred to as "Primary" and the upper grades as "Secondary." If your kids are in grades 1-6 they are in "Elementary School." Grades 9-12 are called "High School and the years in between are either "Junior High" or "Middle School." Up to this point, unless you choose a private school, education is free. "Post Secondary" education has tuition and what you generally call "University," we call "College." The word University is almost always preceded by "the" and College is not. In other words, we use college in much the same way you use university.

In conversation you might ask where someone went to college but never where they went to university. You might get an answer that they went to the University of Michigan or The Ohio State University but if they brought up the subject they would say, "I went to college at Ohio State." There are many post secondary schools that also teach 4 year programs in multiple fields but they are known as colleges and are often smaller than universities. Oberlin College where Caroline Paton went to school is one of the finest post secondary schools in the country whereas the University of Michigan is attended by dimwitted assholes having two digit IQ scores like Gerald Ford, the President that pardoned Richard Nixon.

I know this probably is more than you wanted to know but I've spent 12 years here at Mudcat trying to figure out your system and thought this might save you some time. I want you to know that about 250 years back we kicked the shit out of y'all so we could fuck up the language and the culture in any way we damn well pleased and as you can see we've done a real job of it. Pride in accomplishment is the American motto and whenever we can fuck something up beyond all recognition we try to take it even one step more!


Spaw