After completing secondary education, a person’s tertiary education refers to any type of education he or she will pursue. Different types of tertiary education have their own terminology, which is often used regionally in different countries. This type of education is commonly referred to as higher education in the United States, and it can be found at colleges, universities, and technical schools. In the United Kingdom, tertiary education is divided into two types: further education and higher education. Further education refers to technical schools and similar types of education, while higher education refers to universities.
In general, the term tertiary education refers to any type of non-compulsory education that a student can receive after completing his or her secondary education. Primary and secondary education are the two types of compulsory education that are generally required of young people in many countries. In the United States, for example, compulsory education is typically defined as kindergarten through 12th grade, though once a person reaches the age of majority, he or she is not required to complete it. Kindergarten through sixth grade constitute primary education in the United States, while seventh through 12th grade constitute secondary education.
Following these primary and secondary educations, a person may pursue a tertiary education at a school that is not required but may be required for certain careers. This typically entails enrolling in classes at a college, university, technical school, or other similar institution, and the coursework may be significantly more difficult than that available at lower levels of education. With each passing semester, the difficulty of these classes rises, as does the narrow focus and specialization of classes available to students. Students in tertiary education are typically expected to have a broad understanding of a variety of subjects as well as a comprehensive and deep understanding of a single field of study.
While tertiary education in the United States is not typically divided into different types, this is not the case in other countries. Tertiary education is referred to as either further education or higher education in the United Kingdom, for example. Technical learning and job skills are typically the focus of postsecondary education. These classes can be used to prepare a person for a specific profession or for further study in higher education.
Higher education, on the other hand, encompasses a wide range of activities that take place at colleges and universities. Despite the fact that the terms are not commonly used in this sense in the United States, there is still an ideological divide between these types of schools. Some people consider one type of learning to be superior to the other, but both allow students to develop different skill sets and prepare for different types of careers.