Are there specialised universities/institutes in America?

Are there any specialised higher education facilities that focus on one profession (chemistry, medicine, construction, physics) in US? They are very common where I live but from what I have read it seems that all American universities have an array of different majors.

8 Answers

  • MS
    Lv 7
    3 weeks ago
    Favorite Answer

    All universities in the US do have an array of majors.  There are some that focus more on STEM subjects (usually those designated as Institutes of Technology or similar), but even many of them will still offer degrees in literature, history, music, etc. 

    The Milwaukee School of Engineering might be an example closest to what you are thinking.  It offers a limited range of degrees, mostly in engineering (but also in business and nursing, so still not truly one subject area), and has relatively few general education requirements.  But students are still expected to take some courses in social sciences and humanities, and they require "freshman studies" courses that teach composition, critical thinking, and public speaking, which are included in the general education curriculum in most universities.


    You mention medicine in your question, which is a little different.  Medical school is a professional graduate program in the US - you must obtain your bachelor's degree first.  So most medical schools do only offer medical training/degrees, but they are generally affiliated with a university.  There are very few that are not - Albert Einstein College of Medicine comes to mind (it used to be affiliated with Yeshiva University), and I believe the Mayo Clinic operates a medical school too.  I'm sure there are some other independent schools.  Again though, these are graduate programs and so that's very different than undergraduate degrees/majors.

  • Anonymous
    3 weeks ago

    Surely there are such places.

  • L
    Lv 4
    3 weeks ago

    Plenty!  Just do research on-ine.

  • 3 weeks ago

    Where are you? In the British system, students at 18 go into universities and study only one field. They can study medicine or law right away. US schools don't work that way. Even students in undergraduate degree programs in engineering and business have to take "general education" courses- in English, history, psychology, social sciences, science, etc. The idea is to turn out educated citizens, not just worker automatons. Then students go to graduate school in law, medicine and other fields. The very term "university" implies the study of the universe- of all fields of study in the universe. 

    We do have vocational-technical schools with 6 month- 2 year programs in technical fields such as HVAC installation, computer programming, etc. 

  • 4 weeks ago

    Other than music conservatories, art academies, design schools, culinary institutes, universities offer a variety of courses, majors, etc. And it makes NO sense to have some specialized "chemistry" school without also having excellent facilities in biology, physics, math, etc. Graduate medical schools are typically at universities with excellent science curriculums & facilities, and often offer other professional graduate schools in fields such as dentistry, nursing, etc.

  • 4 weeks ago

    Yes, there are and it NOT just at the graduate level. Every undergraduate engineering college in the USA specializes in engineering, applied math courses. 

    The most famous examples in the USA are MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and Caltech (California Institute of Technology). There is a New Mexico Institute of Technology. 

  • DON W
    Lv 7
    4 weeks ago

    To add to Lili's response, it is at the graduate level where you have specializations.  Graduate students typically only take course work in the field they are studying.  For instance, a graduate program in electrical engineering will not require their students to take any courses in English literature or history, nor will a law school or a medical school.  These programs are typically in their own buildings, often not even on the main campus of the university they are affiliated with.  For instance, Georgetown Law School, while part of Georgetown University, is in a building that is several miles away from the main campus, and law students will rarely if ever go to the main campus.  The main campus of Johns Hopkins University is in Baltimore, but their graduate school of international studies is in Washington, DC, an hour away.

  • Lili
    Lv 7
    4 weeks ago

    Just ONE subject?

    No. Except for religious seminaries that offer religion classes only.

    But we do have specialized technological universities that offer primarily science and tech courses.  Some of these are among the very best in the world. They include the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the California Institute of Technology (Cal Tech).  Even at those, though, students are required to take some non-science and non-tech classes alongside their majors.

    Also, within universities, there are specialized colleges and institutes.  A university will offer a business school, a medical school, and a law school, for example.

    By definition, though, a university offers many subjects. That is why it's CALLED a university, a word that is obviously related to "universal".

    There are some vocational schools that might offer only, say auto repair or something like that, but they are not considered institutions of higher education.

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