High Schoolers Take More Credits Than Ever

Today's high school students are taking more classes than ever.

According to a new study by the National Center for Education Statistics, the average high school graduate in 2009 earned about three credits more than graduates in 1990. The extra credits amounted to about 420 more hours spent in the classroom than 1990 graduates.

Where did students find the time? About 1 in 5 took a summer class at some point during their high school careers; some students earned high school credits such as Algebra I, foreign language, and biology in middle school; and about 5 percent of graduates took a supplemental course online.

About 13 percent of graduates completed a "rigorous" curriculum, which includes at least three years of a foreign language; math coursework that includes pre-calculus; and at least three years of science, including at least one course in biology, chemistry, and physics. In 1990, just 5 percent of students completed such a rigorous curriculum, and in 2005, 10 percent did.

[Read about the growth of foreign languages in high schools.]

Not all graduates completed a tough curriculum, though—25 percent of graduates completed a curriculum considered below standard. In 1990, 60 percent of students completed a below-standard curriculum. The study defined a standard curriculum as four years of English and three each of social studies, math, and science. Many of these graduates failed to meet the science benchmark.

Not surprisingly, those who completed rigorous and midlevel coursework scored highest on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) mathematics and science standardized tests. Graduates with higher GPAs also scored higher on the tests. The NAEP tests are given to students to determine national education levels. Scores on the mathematics test were virtually unchanged between 2005 and 2009; the science test was not given in 2005.

[Learn about the surge in AP science and math enrollment.]

Female graduates had an average GPA of 3.10, while males earned an average of 2.90. That gap was the smallest since 1990, and overall, GPAs improved from 2.68 in 1990 to an average of 3.0 in 2009. That number was unchanged since 2005. Males outscored females on NAEP math and science tests.

White and Asian/Pacific Islander students earned higher GPAs than Hispanics and blacks, but GPAs generally improved across the board.

The National Center for Education Statistics, which is affiliated with the Department of Education, studied 37,700 high school transcripts from 740 public and private schools nationwide.

See how your school stacks up in our rankings of Best High Schools. Have something of interest to share? Send your news to us at highschoolnotes@usnews.com.

Online Pharmacy Degrees

Online degrees have taken the world by storm and have been beneficial to millions of students and working professionals from all over the world. Not only can students pursue higher education of their choice, but they can also continue working as professionals in their respective fields even while pursuing these online courses. Online pharmacy degrees are one such variety of courses that one can opt for across some of the most renowned institutes of the world.

Online pharmacy degrees have been endowed with a number of features to enable individuals/students interested in this field to take up these courses that definitely promise for great careers ahead. A few of the most significant elements associated with the online pharmacy degrees have been mentioned below for your perusal:

- These courses train students across the various aspects related to pharmacy degrees including the technical aspects as well.

- Complete information on medications and their usage, knowledge of the pharmaceutical drugs as well as computer database administration etc are also included as part of the online pharmacy degrees.

- Online pharmacy degrees are also blessed with features to enable world class information and knowledge even about the mistakes and hazards related to the usage of incorrect medications and even fake medicines as well.

Pharmacy degrees online also open numerous opportunities to the students and people who are already working in this field can surely expect to better their career chances after having successfully completed the courses. Besides the theoretical aspects, these courses are also equipped to train students in maintaining the right public relations with the patients as well as health workers and professionals. Among other responsibilities associated with people after having completed the online pharmacy degrees are responsibilities like information on alternate medicines, capability of suggesting this type of medicines, coordination with health insurance companies as well as filling prescriptions.

A few of the most reputed institutes where one can apply to take up online pharmacy degrees are Ashford University, University of Phoenix and University of Florida etc.

School Psychology: An Interesting Field

School psychology is an interesting field if you are interested in helping the children deal with different themes such as social, emotional and scientific issues. The school psychologist act as intermediaries between pupils, parents and teachers. He/she helps, a healthy environment for promoting better learn through the students. Professionally speaking, school psychology is a relatively new profession. But it is quickly to the most coveted Job in education. School psychology is that the students and parents and teachers, address, and with the behavior issues in education and the home. They will contribute to development of techniques needed to deal with the issues. You can also the training of teachers and parents to overcome a crisis Situation.

The National Association of school psychology has five areas where the services of a school psychologist can fulfill a great need. The areas include research and planning, prevention, Intervention, evaluation and consulting. School psychologists may be used as a coach or Educators for parents and community development of children, with the help understand the basics behavior management techniques and behavior problems of a child. Employment Opportunities for school psychologists are becoming more and more. Most school psychologists have little difficulty, work in elementary and secondary schools, private practice, hospitals and universities.

To a school psychologist, needs for training and certification. Several states have different rules about the minimum necessary training. So before the program, it must be some examinations to the rules and regulations for the state you live. School psychology is a great way of support for children and parents deal with the various issues common to young people at a school setting.

Consulting education is the last happens, which is slowly catching up in almost all the educational environments in the world. It is not limited to a particular country or a particular area of education. In fact, students are consulting as abroad for higher studies and helping them to make the right choice as far as your career. career guidance helps not only that the right choice of career, but helps them is confident that persons to various problems in the field of education. Training advice is priceless and indispensable because of these changing educational Patterns and specializations. It is necessary that every educational institution decides for the implementation of this advice programs from time to time to improve their students.

.2011 Rankings of Universities in the world（1-100）

Rank School Name Overall Score Country
1 Harvard University 100.0 United States
2 University of Cambridge 99.6 United Kingdom
3 Yale University 99.1 United States
4 UCL (University College London) 99.0 United Kingdom
5 Imperial College London 97.8 United Kingdom
5 University of Oxford 97.8 United Kingdom
7 University of Chicago 96.8 United States
8 Princeton University 96.6 United States
9 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) 96.1 United States
10 California Institute of Technology (Caltech) 95.9 United States
11 Columbia University 95.6 United States
12 University of Pennsylvania 94.2 United States
13 Johns Hopkins University 94.1 United States
14 Duke University 92.9 United States
15 Cornell University 92.5 United States
16 Stanford University 92.2 United States
17 Australian National University 90.5 Australia
18 McGill University 90.4 Canada
19 University of Michigan 89.9 United States
20 University of Edinburgh 89.3 United Kingdom
20 ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) 89.3 Switzerland
22 University of Tokyo 88.9 Japan
23 King's College London 88.4 United Kingdom
24 University of Hong Kong 87.5 Hong Kong
25 Kyoto University 87.1 Japan
26 University of Manchester 85.7 United Kingdom
27 Carnegie Mellon University 85.6 United States
28 Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris 85.4 France
29 University of Toronto 85.3 Canada
30 National University of Singapore (NUS) 84.3 Singapore
31 Brown University 83.9 United States
32 University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) 83.5 United States
32 Northwestern University 83.5 United States
34 University of Bristol 83.4 United Kingdom
35 Hong Kong University of Science and Technology 83.3 Hong Kong
36 École Polytechnique 83.1 France
36 University of Melbourne 83.1 Australia
36 University of Sydney 83.1 Australia
39 University of California, Berkeley 82.7 United States
40 University of British Columbia 81.2 Canada
41 University of Queensland 80.7 Australia
42 École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne 80.6 Switzerland
43 Osaka University 80.1 Japan
43 Trinity College Dublin 80.1 Ireland
45 Monash University 80.0 Australia
46 The Chinese University of Hong Kong 79.6 Hong Kong
47 University of New South Wales 79.0 Australia
47 Seoul National University 79.0 Korea, South
49 University of Amsterdam 78.9 Netherlands
49 Tsinghua University 78.9 China
51 University of Copenhagen 78.8 Denmark
52 New York University (NYU) 78.4 United States
52 Peking University 78.4 China
54 Boston University 77.8 United States
55 Technische Universität München 76.3 Germany
55 Tokyo Institute of Technology 76.3 Japan
57 Heidelberg University 76.2 Germany
58 University of Warwick 75.7 United Kingdom
59 University of Alberta 75.4 Canada
60 Leiden University 75.3 Netherlands
61 The University of Auckland 74.7 New Zealand
61 University of Wisconsin-Madison 74.7 United States
63 Aarhus University 74.5 Denmark
63 University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign 74.5 United States
65 Katholieke Universiteit Leuven 74.2 Belgium
66 University of Birmingham 73.9 United Kingdom
67 London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) 73.7 United Kingdom
67 Lund University 73.7 Sweden
69 KAIST - Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology 72.6 Korea, South
70 Utrecht University 72.4 Netherlands
70 University of York 72.4 United Kingdom
72 University of Geneva 72.3 Switzerland
73 Nanyang Technological University (NTU) 72.0 Singapore
73 Washington University in St. Louis 72.0 United States
75 Uppsala University 71.9 Sweden
76 University of California, San Diego 71.5 United States
76 University of Texas at Austin 71.5 United States
78 University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 71.3 United States
79 University of Glasgow 71.2 United Kingdom
80 University of Washington 71.1 United States
81 University of Adelaide 70.8 Australia
82 University of Sheffield 70.6 United Kingdom
83 Delft University of Technology 70.4 Netherlands
84 University of Western Australia 70.2 Australia
85 Dartmouth College 70.1 United States
86 Georgia Institute of Technology 70.0 United States
87 Purdue University 69.8 United States
87 University of St Andrews 69.8 United Kingdom
89 University College Dublin 69.7 Ireland
90 Emory University 69.6 United States
91 University of Nottingham 69.4 United Kingdom
92 Nagoya University 69.2 Japan
92 University of Zurich 69.2 Switzerland
94 Freie Universität Berlin 69.0 Germany
95 University of Southampton 68.9 United Kingdom
95 National Taiwan University 68.9 Taiwan
97 Tohoku University 68.6 Japan
98 Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München 68.4 Germany
99 University of Leeds 68.3 United Kingdom
100 Rice University 68.1 United States


(1-100) (101-200)
Top 600 Universities in the World 2010
1--100 101--200 201--300 301--400 401--500 501--600
More Webpages of World University Rankings

School of Mechanics, Civil Engineering & Architecture

The School of Mechanics, Civil Engineering and Architecture (SMCA) excels at both teaching and research. It was founded in July 2003, and was a combination of the former Department of Engineering Mechanics and Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture. SMCA consists of three departments, seven institutes, one state key specialized laboratory and two corporations. It offers five programs for bachelor’s degrees, seven programs for master’s degrees and four programs for Ph.D. degrees, as well as one postdoctoral position in mechanics.


Since 1956, SMCA has been offering graduate programs. The Mechanics discipline of NPU is one of the first-class disciplines approved by the Academic Degree Office of State Council and was first authorized to confer doctoral degrees in 1981. In 1985, SMCA began to offer postdoctoral position in mechanics. Solid Mechanics is a state key discipline and Structure Engineering is a key discipline of the university. SMCA is also one of the six state educational bases of fundamental mechanics for engineering courses in China.


The School is staffed with an excellent faculty of 87 members, who have a high academic level and rich experience in teaching and research, including one member of the Chinese Academy of Science (Professor Zhu Weiqiu), 24 professors, 26 associate professors and senior engineers, and 15 lecturers and engineers. The Dean of the School, Prof. Zhufeng Yue, is a Yangze River scholar specially appointed by the Cheung Kong Scholars Program.


At present, there are more than 1000 undergraduates and over 200 graduates studying at SMCA. They are consistently guided to aim for “excellent personality, excellent ability and excellent health” and to concentrate on specialty study and training. In the past years, more than 2000 students have graduated from SMCA and are highly sought after in various fields.


Department of Engineering Mechanics
Department of Civil Engineering


Department of Architecture








Engineering Mechanics
Civil Engineering
Traffic Engineering
Engineering Management


Architecture








Engineering Mechanics
Solid Mechanics
General Mechanics and Fundamental Mechanics
Structure Engineering
Traffic Engineering
Engineering Management


Architecture








General Mechanics and Fundamental Mechanics
The research focuses on seven primary topics: vibration theory and its application, random vibration, nonlinear dynamics, dynamics for controlled system, vibration control and smart structure, multiple body dynamics, spatial dynamics and shock dynamics.
Engineering Mechanics
The primary research fields in the specialty are strength of structure and materials, vibration, shock and noise, engineering measurement and testing, MEMS mechanics and analytical technique for engineering mechanics.
Solid Mechanics
The main research activities are micro-mechanics & damage mechanics, fracture mechanics, strength of composite materials, behavior of strength of materials and their computational simulation.


Construction Materials




Mechanics




There are eight laboratories, seven research institutes and two corporations, including:
The Laboratory of Dynamics and Strength (a state key specialized lab)
The Laboratory of Vibration
The Laboratory Center of Engineering Mechanics
The Laboratory of Material Properties
The Laboratory of Construction Material
The Laboratory of Dynamic Simulation
The Laboratory of Mechanical Quantities
The Laboratory of Micro-mechanics and Fracture
The Institute of Dynamic and Control
The Institute of Strength
The Institute of Vibration Engineering
The Institute of Architectural Design and Research
The Institute of Astrodynamics
The Institute of Composite Materials
The Institute of MEMS
Project Management Supervisory Corporation


Construction Corporation


At present, SMCA is undertaking more than 40 research projects at the national or provincial level, among which some are funded by the National Natural Science Foundation, 863 High Technology Program. Every year, around 160 papers are published in well-known journals at home and abroad, among which near 40 are indexed by SCI, EI and ISTP. The School has won 13 official awards at or above provincial and ministerial level, and 4 patent grants.




Importance is also attached to international academic cooperation and exchange. International relationships have been established with universities and institutes in USA, Germany, UK, France, Japan, Switzerland, Netherlands, Canada, Hong Kong and among others. A large number of faculty members and graduates of SMCA are conducting cooperative research with overseas institutes and universities. More than 60 SMCA faculty members have been abroad for academic exchanges.

School of Aeronautics

The School of Aeronautics could hardly be better situated for the research and study for Aeronautics. With its location in Xi’an, the School is in a unique position to combine the best of the aeronautical industries in the city. The predecessors of the School are the Aircraft Department and the Civil Aviation Engineering College. The Aircraft Department was founded in 1952 by merging three Aeronautics Departments of Shanghai Jiaotong University, Nanjing University and Zhejiang University. The next big expansion occurred in 1970 when the Aircraft Department of Harbin Engineering College merged into the Department. With the approval of the AVIC (Aviation Industries of China) and CAAC (Civil Aviation Administration of China), Civil Aviation Engineering College was jointly founded by NPU, AMECO (Aircraft Maintenance & Engineering Corporation) and CNWA (China Northwest Airline) in 1994. Another big development was the Aircraft Department’s merger with the Civil Aviation Engineering College in 2003.


Currently, the School has 37 professors including two members of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and three Yangze River Scholars, and 35 associate professors. There are over 1300 undergraduate students, 299 postgraduate students, and 116 PhD candidates at the School. The graduates of the School of Aeronautics have played a key role in the aeronautical industry in China. Zhang Qingwei, the General Manager of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) is one of the famous alumni of the School.


Department of Aircraft Design Engineering
Department of Synthetic Technique and Control Engineering
Department of Hydromechanics
Department of Aeronautical Structure Engineering
Department of Civil Aviation Engineering




The School offers the following six undergraduate degree programs:
Aircraft Design Engineering
Electric Engineering and its Automation
Aircraft Environment and Life Safeguard Engineering


Safe Engineering


Theoretical and Applied Mechanics
Electronic Information Engineering


The School also has the following thirteen disciplines leading to a M.S. and a Ph.D.:


Aircraft Design (M.S., Ph.D., Post-Doctoral Position)
Aircraft Conceptual Design
Aircraft Structure Design
Aircraft Aerodynamic Configuration and Stealth Integration Design
Aircraft Flight Mechanics and Control
Aircraft Reliability Engineering
Active Control; Synthetic Control; Flight Management Technique
Hydromechanics (M.S., Ph.D.)
Theoretical and Computational Hydromechanics
Aircraft Design Aerodynamics
Experimental Hydromechanics and Technique for Measuring and Control
Fluid-Solid Coupling and Aerodynamic Noise
Industry Aerodynamics
Solid Mechanics (M.S., Ph.D.)
Structure Fatigue, Fracture and Reliability Analysis
The New Computational tactic and Numerical Method
Structure Dynamics and Dynamic Failure Analysis
Traffic Transportation Programming and Management (M.S., Ph.D.)
Flight Dynamic Features and Flight Qualities
Air Traffic Control
Air Traffic Economy and Operation
Man-machine Environment Engineering (M.S., Ph.D.)
MMES Engineering and Synthesis Layout
Man-machine Engineering
The Environment Problems in Aircraft
Hydro- Mechanism and Engineering (M.S., Ph.D.)
Energy Saving and Ventilation Engineering
Fluid Solid Coupling and Control (M.S., Ph.D.)
Theoretical and Computational Liquid-Solid Coupling Mechanics
Experimental and Fluid-Solid Coupling Mechanics
Fluid-Solid Coupling Control
Aerospace Safety Engineering (M.S., Ph.D.)
Aerospace Safety System Engineering
Risk Evaluation and Disaster Protection
Failure Diagnosis and Health Monitoring
Means of Transport Applied Engineering (M.S., Ph.D.)
Means of Transport Safety and Reliability Guarantee Technique
Traffic Information and Electronic System
Means of Transport advanced Control System Technique
Power System Operation Control and Failure Diagnosis
Means of Transport Navigation and Traffic Management
Communication and Information System (M.S., Ph.D.)
Detecting and Control Network and Dummy Simulating Technique
Power Electronic and Electrical Drive (M.S., Ph.D.)
Aircraft Electric System


Material Science (M.S., Ph.D.)
Corrosion and Protection
Material Processing Engineering (M.S., Ph.D.)
Solidification Technique and Material Preparation Figuration








The School is home to one national key laboratory, one national specialized laboratory, and ten other laboratories, institutes and centers that give support to the Aircraft Design, Fluid Dynamics, Solid Mechanics and other disciplines.
The National Key Laboratory of Aerofoil/Foil Grid Aerodynamics
The National Specialized Laboratory of Dynamics and Strength
Aerodynamic Numerical Simulate Laboratory
Aerodynamics Laboratory
Airframe Strength Laboratory
Aerofoil Research Center
Airplane Design New Technology Institute
Structure Strength Institute
Hydromechanics Institute
Reliability Engineering Institute and Structure Integration Institute
Corrosion and Protection Research Center
Civil Aviation Trouble Shooting Research Center


Shaanxi Wind Machine and Pump Engineering Center


The School has made significant contributions for the Chinese aeronautic industries. In recent years, the School of Aeronautics has achieved 15 National Awards for Scientific Progress, 109 awards at provincial and ministerial level, and 11 national patents. It has published more than 1000 research articles both in Chinese and internationally well-know journals.

School of Electronics and Information

The School of Electronics and Information (SEI), the former Radio Department, was founded in 1958. There are four departments offering broad programs in graduate studies leading to the degrees of Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy. There are three research institutes, one key ministerial laboratory, and three laboratories with international research collaboration.


The School now has 125 faculty and staff members, including 24 professors, and 43 associate professors and senior engineers. More than 10 outstanding scholars and experts from home and abroad are the guest professors of SEI.

Over 7000 undergraduates and postgraduates have graduated from SEI in the past 40 years. At present, more than 1800 undergraduates and 700 postgraduates are studying at SEI. The School pays much attention to the overall management and establishment of good style of study, stresses the fundamental theories, skills and abilities, and widens the range of teaching, so as to improve the students' integrative quality. During the past several years, the students in SEI have been among the best ones of the University. The graduates of SEI have gained social and professional reputation. Every year, one third of them choose to pursue their further degrees in the Graduate Schools.

Department of Electronic Science and Technique
Department of Electronics and Information Engineering
Department of System and Control Engineering

Department of Communication Engineering





Electronic Science and Technique
Electronics and Information Engineering
System Engineering

Communication Engineering





Circuit and System (M.S, Ph.D.)
Theories and Application of Networks and Systems
Data Acquisition and Signal Processing with PC
Application of Micro-electronic Technology
Multimedia and Computer Network Communication
Technology of Information Countermeasure
Automation of Electronic Design
Circuit, System and Microwave Network
Technology of Information Fusing
Multi-sensor Information
Image Engineering & Graphics Engineering, Simulation & Virtual Environment Technology
System Engineering (M.S, Ph.D.)
Modern Fire Control Theory
Large Scale Systems Theory and Application
Intelligent Command and Control Engineering
Integrated Avionics Systems and Simulation Technologies
Theories and Application of Advanced Control
Modeling, Simulation and Effectiveness Evaluation of Complex Systems

Electromagnetic Field and Microwave Technology (M.S, Ph.D.)
Microwave Measurement
Microwave Communication
Applied Microwave Technology
Electronic Countermeasure
Modern Antenna Technology
Computed Electromagnetic Theory
Antenna and Radome
Computed Electromagnetic Engineering
Communication and Information Systems (M.S, Ph.D.)
Multi-media Communication and Advanced Information System
Data Communication and Computer Network
Multimedia and Computer Communication
Mobile Communication
Communication Signal Processing
Data Communication and Network Technology
Microwave Communication
Information Transmission and Processing for Radio Communication, Navigation, Telemetry and Telecontrol System

Signal and Information Processing (M.S, Ph.D.)
Multi-sensor Information Acquisition, Processing and Transmission
Modern Signal Processing and Application
Neural Networks and Intelligent Information Processing
Image Processing and Visualization Technology
Multi-sensor and Array Signal Processing
Detection, Estimation and Adaptive Processing of Signals
Virtual Reality and Multimedia Technology
Digital Signal Processing and Application
Bio-medical Information Acquisition and Processing
Biomedical Engineering (M.S.)
The Processing and Analysis of Medical Signal and Image
Medical 3-D Virtual Simulation and Visualization
Tele-medical Information Engineering
Biomedical Sensor Technology and Information Acquisition

Electrical Theory and New Technology (M.S.)
Electrical& Electronic Theory and New Technology Application
Power Electronic Theory and New Technology
Intelligence Information Processing and Detecting Technology

Intelligence Control Theories and New Technology




Circuit and System
Communication and Information Systems
Electromagnetic Field and Microwave Technology
System Engineering
Electromagnetic Field and Microwave Technology
Communication and Information Systems

Signal and Information Processing

Laboratory of Aeronautic Electronics Integrated Control System
Laboratory of Information Acquisition and Processing
Center of Experiment for Electronics and Information
Institute of Biomedical Engineering
Research Center of Electronics and Information Engineering
Center of R&D for Virtual Reality
Institute of Modern Information and Electronic System
Institute of Communication and Electronic System

Institute of Electronic Science and Technology

For the last three years, the School has been funded by National Nature Science Foundation of China, Doctor Programme Fund of State Education Committee, and Aeronautic Science Fund. More than 300 projects have been implemented, of which over 40 projects have been awarded with the provincial and ministerial prize. The School now is taking on more than 40 projects funded by National Nature Science Fund, Doctor Programme Fund of State Education Committee, Aeronautic Science Fund, National 973 Projects and National 863 projects. Over 46 million RMB has been invested in above mentioned research projects.



SEI has joint research programs with the well-known universities, industries and research institutes in United States, Russia, Singapore, Great Britain, Germany, Australia, Belgium, Japan, and Canada. Every year, there are more than 40 times/persons for visits and exchanged experts.
The Laboratory of Aeronautic Electronics Integrated Control System of SEI has cooperated with Moscow Aeronautic Institute in teaching and academic research for more than ten years. Professor А.П.Гришин, a famous scientist of Russia has been to SEI, giving lectures on Efficacy Analysis. The laboratory also engages two professors from Moscow Aeronautic Institute as consultative professors.

SEI has established three jiont researh institutions: International Center of Teaching & Research for Aeronautic System Effectiveness (MAI of Russia and NWPU of China), International R&D Center for Digital Information Technology (MENSI of France and NWPU of China), Texas Instruments-NWPU DSPs Laboratory