Editing Student (section)

==Americas==

===Canada===
{{Further|Education in Canada}}
[[File:Work in the computer lab.JPG|thumb|Students of the ''Cégep de St-Hyacinthe'' in Quebec working in a computer lab]]
Education in [[Canada]] (a federal state) is primarily within the constitutional jurisdiction of the [[Provinces and territories of Canada|provinces]]. The overall school curricula are overseen by the provincial and territorial governments, therefore the way educational stages are grouped and named can differ. Education is generally divided into primary, secondary and post-secondary stages. Primary and secondary education are generally divided into annual grades from 1 to 12, although grade 1 may be preceded by one or two years of [[kindergarten]] (which may be optional). Specifically, Ontario, Quebec and the Northwest Territories offer [[pre-kindergarten|junior]] then senior kindergarten (in French, either ''{{Lang|fr|pre-maternelle}}'' then {{Lang|fr|maternelle}}, or ''{{Lang|fr|maternelle}}'' then {{Lang|fr|jardin d'enfants}}).

[[Education in Ontario]] from 1988 involved an [[Ontario Academic Credit]] (OAC) after grade 12 primarily as university preparation, but that was phased out in 2003. The OAC was informally known as "grade 13" (which it had replaced). All provinces and territories except Quebec now have 12 grades.

[[Education in Quebec]] differs from the other jurisdictions in that it has an {{Lang|fr|école primaire}} ("primary school") consisting of grades 1–6 and an {{Lang|fr|école secondaire}} ("secondary school") consisting of {{Lang|fr|secondaries}} I–V, equivalent to grades 7–11. A student graduating from {{Lang|fr|école secondaire}} then either completes a three-year [[College education in Quebec|college]] program or a two-year pre-university program required before attending university. In some English-language {{Lang|fr|écoles secondaire}} and most French-language {{Lang|fr|écoles secondaire}}, students refer to {{Lang|fr|secondaries}} I–V as years one through five. This can be confusing for those outside of Quebec, especially out of context.

In some provinces, grades 1 through 5 are called "elementary school", grades 6 to 8 are called "middle school" or "junior high school", and grades 9 to 12 are considered high school. Other provinces, such as British Columbia, mainly divide schooling into elementary school (Kindergarten to grade 7) and secondary school (grades 8 through 12). In Alberta and Nova Scotia, elementary consists of kindergarten through grade 6. Junior high consists of Grades 7–9. High school consists of Grades 10–12. In English provinces, the high school (known as ''academy'' or ''secondary school'') years can be referred to simply as ''first, second, third and fourth year''. Some areas call it by grade such as grade 10, grade 11 and grade 12.

In Canadian English, the term "college" usually refers to a [[Vocational college|technical]], [[Trade school|trades]], applied arts, applied technology, or applied science school or [[Community college#Canada|community college]]. These are [[Tertiary education|post-secondary]] institutions typically granting two-year [[Academic certificate|certificates]], diplomas or [[associate degree]]s and (in some cases) three-year [[bachelor's degree]]s. The French acronym specific to public institutions within [[Quebec]]'s system of pre-university and technical education is [[CEGEP]] (''Collège d'enseignement général et professionnel'', "college of general and professional education"). CEGEP is a [[College education in Quebec|collegiate level]] institution in Quebec that most students typically enrol in, whether to learn a trade or applied discipline or to qualify for entrance to university in the [[Education in Quebec|Quebec education system]]. (In [[Ontario]] and [[Alberta]], there are also institutions that only grant undergraduate degrees which are designated [[university college]]s to differentiate them from universities, which have both undergraduate and graduate programs.)

In Canada, there is a strong distinction between "college" and "university". In conversation, one specifically would say either "they are going to university" (i.e., studying for a three- or four-year degree at a university) or "they are going to college" (i.e., studying at a technical/career training).{{Citation needed|date=October 2021}}

A Canadian post-secondary [[college]] is generally geared for individuals seeking applied careers, while universities are geared for individuals seeking more academic careers.

University students are generally classified as first, second, third or fourth-year students, and the American system of classifying them as "freshmen", "sophomores", "juniors" and "seniors" is seldom used or even understood in Canada. In some occasions, they can be called "senior ones", "twos", "threes" and "fours".

===United States===
{{multiple image
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| image1            = Bookstore at Tulane University, Uptown New Orleans, August 2009.jpg
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| image2            = NOLA Experience - Tulane University Students and Teacher with Cannon, New Orleans, 2009.jpg
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| image3            = Move In-Day 2011, Tulane University, Uptown New Orleans.jpg
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| footer            = Students of [[Tulane University]] in the U.S. (from top to bottom): at its bookstore, in a class photo (with their teacher sitting on extreme right), and entering class
}}
In the [[Education in the United States|United States]], the first official year of schooling is called [[kindergarten]], which is why the students are called kindergarteners. Kindergarten is optional in most states, but few students skip this level.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wood |first=Sarah |date=2 December 2022 |title=Where Is Kindergarten Mandatory? |url=https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/articles/where-is-kindergarten-mandatory |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Preschool]] is for kids ages 2 to 5 [[Pre-kindergarten|pre-K]] is specifically designed for ages 4 to 5 in the year before kindergarten. Pre-K programs are more about kindergarten readiness.<ref>{{Cite web |last=School |first=Tessa |date=2024-05-02 |title=Preschool vs. Pre-kindergarten: Similarities and Differences |url=https://tessais.org/preschool-vs-prekindergarten-similarities-and-differences/ |access-date=2025-05-12 |website=Tessa International School |language=en-US}}</ref>

In the United States, it varies from state, though there are 9 to 13 years of mandatory schooling.<ref>https://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/01/18/68/11868.pdf</ref> The first six are called elementary school, and go from kindergarten to 5th grade.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Statista.com |first= |title=Elementary schools in the United States |url=https://www.statista.com/topics/1733/elementary-schools-in-the-us/ |url-status=live |access-date=2025-05-12 |website=Statista |language=en}}</ref> Middle school is 6th, 7th and 8th grade.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Thrush |first=E. |date=12 June 2024 |title=At what grade level do elementary schools typically transition to being called "middle" schools? |url=https://www.quora.com/At-what-grade-level-do-elementary-schools-typically-transition-to-being-called-middle-schools |url-status=live}}</ref> [[High school (North America)|High school]] is 9th to 12th grade.<ref>{{Cite web |title=School Age and Grade Levels |url=https://eduww.net/parent-resources/school-age-grade-levels/ |access-date=2025-05-12 |website=Education World Wide |language=en-US}}</ref> They have alternate names for students, namely freshman, sophomore, junior and senior.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-05-02 |title=New For the Glossary: Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/new-for-the-glossary-freshman-sophomore-junior-senior/4008505.html |access-date=2025-05-12 |website=Voice of America |language=en}}</ref> The actual divisions of which grade levels belong to which division (whether elementary, middle, junior high, or high school) is a matter decided by state or local jurisdictions.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Federal Role in Education {{!}} U.S. Department of Education |url=https://www.ed.gov/about/ed-overview/federal-role-in-education |access-date=2025-05-12 |website=www.ed.gov |language=en}}</ref>

College students are often called freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors.<ref>{{Cite web |last=The Student |first=Mike |title=What are the names of school/college grades in the US (eg. Sophomore, freshman…) and what do they mean? |url=https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-names-of-school-college-grades-in-the-US-eg-Sophomore-freshman-and-what-do-they-mean |url-status=live}}</ref> They are called [[Super senior|super seniors]] if they are doing more than the traditional four years.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nelson |first=Vicki |date=2014-05-12 |title=Do You Have a Super Senior? Making the Most of the Fifth Year of College |url=https://www.collegeparentcentral.com/2014/05/do-you-have-a-super-senior-making-the-most-of-the-fifth-year-of-college/ |access-date=2025-05-17 |website=College Parent Central |language=en-US}}</ref>

====First year====
The first year of college or high school is referred to as Freshman year. A [[freshman]] is a first-year student in [[college]], [[university]] or [[High school (North America)|high school]].

====Second year==== 
In the U.S., a [[wiktionary:sophomore|sophomore]], also called a "soph", is a second-year student. Outside the United States, the term ''sophomore'' is rarely used, with second-year students simply called "second years". [[Folk etymology]] indicates that the word means "[[wise fool]]"; consequently "sophomoric" means "pretentious, bombastic, inflated in style or manner; immature, crude, superficial" (according to the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]''). It is widely assumed to be formed from Greek ''Sophos'', meaning "wise", and ''Moros'' meaning "foolish", although the etymology suggests an origin from the now-defunct "sophomore", an obsolete variant of "[[sophism]]".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=sophomore&searchmode=none |title=Online Etymology Dictionary |publisher=Etymonline.com |access-date=2012-12-08 |archive-date=28 September 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060928140230/http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=sophomore&searchmode=none |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Post-second year====
[[File:Teamsolvingpuzzle.jpg|thumb|200px|Students from the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]]]
In the U.S., a Junior is a student in the penultimate (usually third) year and a Senior is a student in the last (usually fourth) year of [[college]], [[university]], or [[High school (North America)|high school]]. A student who takes more than the average number of years to graduate is sometimes referred to as a "[[super senior]]".<ref>[http://www.doubletongued.org/index.php/dictionary/super_senior/ Definition of a super senior] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061030220824/http://www.doubletongued.org/index.php/dictionary/super_senior/ |date=30 October 2006 }} retrieved 5 October 2006.</ref> This term is often used in college but can be used in high school as well. The term ''underclassman'' refers collectively to Freshmen and Sophomores, and ''upperclassman'' refers collectively to Juniors and Seniors, sometimes even Sophomores. In some cases, the freshmen, sophomores, and juniors are considered underclassmen, while seniors are designated as upperclassmen. The term Middler is used to describe a third-year student of a school (generally [[college]]) that offers five years of study. In this situation, the fourth and fifth years would be referred to as Junior and Senior years, respectively, and the first two years would be the Freshman and Sophomore years.

====Graduate students====
A graduate student is a student who continues his/her education after graduation.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-12-10 |title=What is a Graduate Student? |url=https://educationusa.state.gov/your-5-steps-us-study/research-your-options/graduate/what-graduate-student |access-date=2025-05-17 |website=EducationUSA |language=en}}</ref> Some of these are [[Master's degree|master’s degrees]], [[Doctoral degree|doctoral degrees]], [[Professional degree|professional degrees]], and [[Graduate certificate|graduate certificates]], which are the highest level of academic degree and require several years of study after a bachelor’s degree.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What are the different types of graduate degrees? {{!}} Graduate Programs |url=https://blogs.umflint.edu/graduateprograms/2023/05/26/what-are-the-different-types-of-graduate-degrees/ |access-date=2025-05-17 |website=blogs.umflint.edu}}</ref>

====Vocational school====
Students attending [[vocational school]] focus on their jobs and learning how to work in specific fields of work. A vocational program typically takes much less time to complete than a four-year degree program, lasting 12–24 months.<ref>{{cite web |title=Minnesota Vocational Schools, Trade Schools, Technical Schools - RWM.org |url=http://www.rwm.org/rwm/tf_min.html |website=RWM - Real Work Matters |access-date=6 October 2011 |archive-date=6 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111106031002/http://www.rwm.org/rwm/tf_min.html |url-status=live }}</ref>