答案优选美国人认为大学本科教育是一个自由人最基本的教育，它帮助一个体成长为一个具有理性思辨能力和批判精神的健全人。
Americans believe that university education is the most basic education, a free man it helps a individual grow into a rational thinking and critical spirit of healthy people.
而中国的大学教育，由于历史和经济发展水平等诸多原因，还被定位成培养某方面专业人才的专才教育。
While China's university education, due to many reasons such as history and economic developing level, also is positioned into the training of specialists in the field of some aspect of specialist education.
双方最大的区别在于，前者之目标是为了培养健全的个体，使其成为一个称职的文明社会公民；而后者之目标在于培养工具式的人才。由于两者在目标上存在着本质的区别，因此中美大学教育在其他诸多方面也存在着根本性的差别。他们又可以集中地体现在专业选择和课程设置上。
The goal of both the biggest difference is that the former is to cultivate a healthy individual, make it become a qualified citizen civilized society; The goal of which is in the tool type training of talents. Because there is essential difference between both in the target, so the university education of China and the United States in many other areas there are fundamental differences. They can be clearly reflected on the professional choice and the curriculum.
中国的大学生在入学前，就已经确定了某一专业。并且，从进入大学的第一学期，就开始学习专业课程。并且，中国的大学课程中，专业课程(包括核心课程和相关课程)至少占到总课程数的60%以上。
China's college students in front of the entrance, has identified a professional. And, from entering the university of the first semester, began to learn professional courses. And China university courses, professional courses, including core courses and related courses) at least accounted for over 60% of the total number of courses.
美国的大学生在进入大学时并无专业之分，而是按照一定的要求学习一些公共科目。这些科目一般要涵盖一些几各大系：文学、艺术、历史、哲学、人文、社会、数学、科学等几大领域。学生在经过比较广泛的教育后，能够更加清楚地了解自己，了解社会以及了解各个学科的内涵。
College students in the United States no professional when entering the university, but studying some common subject according to certain requirements. These subjects are generally to cover some several major series: literature, art, history, philosophy, the humanities, the society, mathematics, science, and so on several big areas. Students after more extensive education, can more clearly understand themselves, understand the society and understand the connotation of many disciplines.
因此，可以想象，美国的大学教育培养出来的学生在知识宽度、平衡性方面有着显著的优势。基本的历史、人文和哲学教育能够保证毕业生至少具备基本的现代公民素质。而对不同领域的广泛而不深入的涉略，能够让毕业生保持对科学的兴趣，从而为研究生阶段进一步深入研究打下基础。这些，都是我们中国的教育需要好好学习的。
So, as you can imagine, university education in the United States made students has significant advantages in knowledge width, balance. The basic philosophy of history, humanities and education to ensure graduates to at least have the basic qualities of modern citizens. And on different areas of the extensive and in-depth involvement slightly, can keep graduates interest in science, so as to lay the foundation for the research of graduate level further. These are China's education we need to study hard.