Education
making it more difficult to receive the type of instruction and attention from teachers needed to thrive.
In general, the education system in the United States is very decentralized with every state and district within each state having different systems and standards. A typical course load for a U.S. high school student over their four years consists of four years of math and Eng - lish, three years of science and history, and two years of a foreign language or physical education. There is also an option of pursuing computer or health studies. Because each state has a different set of graduation and, therefore, curriculum standards, it is not possible to par - ticularly say what an exact protocol would be throughout the United States. In general, the national standard is that students at a bare minimum will learn proficiencies in the areas of mathematical reasoning, language arts, social studies, and science. These subject areas are also reflected and covered on the General Equivalency Degree (GED), the alternative to the high school diploma. Many states require the completion of at least two semesters worth of language study, but in general this tendency is reflective of an admission requirement of post-baccalau - reate institutions and, increasingly, schools are no lon - ger requiring students to learn a language in high school. For those students who do undertake a language, the Romanic languages tend to be the most studied with ne - arly 70 % of all foreign language classes being comprised
Compulsory education laws require youth to attend a public or state-accredited private school for a certain amount of years depending on the state. There are cer - tain exceptions wherein a student does not have to be in an actual school, such as a student being homeschooled. Each state also has a unique mandate for when child - ren must begin school and how old they must be be - fore dropping out. Typically, youth must start school by the age of six and remain enrolled until they are at least sixteen. These laws were put in place not only to improve literacy rates but also to discourage the wides - pread abuse of child labor practices rampant during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. While there are different mechanisms by which youth can persist through the education system, with various options to leave upon reaching the age of sixteen, society places a premium on acquiring a high school diploma – achieved by completing the twelfth grade and graduating. Many states offer work release permits that allow students to work limited hours outside of the school during normal school hours – via co-ops, internships, and apprentice - ships, but the expectation to achieve a high school diplo - ma is always there.
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