在美国，攻读学士学位的学生必须学习四年。一些学生将整个时间都花在四年制大学或学院上，而其他学生则在社区大学学习两年，然后在四年制大学或学院学习两年（2加2）。无论选择哪种选择，或学生上的大学，所有学生都必须接受两年的通识教育和预科课程（第一年和第二年），以及两年针对特定专业的课程（第三年和第四年） ）。
In the United States, most students are able to complete a traditional bachelor's degree after four years of full-time study. You can choose to spend that entire time at the same four-year institution, or you can choose to spend the first two years at a community college followed by two years at a university. After two years at Seattle Colleges, you earn an associate degree and transfer to a university to complete a bachelor's degree. All students seeking a bachelor's degree in the U.S. must take two years of general education and pre-major classes (years one and two) and two years of classes focusing on a specific major subject (years three and four). This is true whether you begin your bachelor's degree at a community college or a university. If you start at a community college, you will earn an associate degree after two years of general education study.