Schools can go from pre-kinder to 12 in public schools with students starting as early as 3.

Some schools consider:

primary grades up to second grade

elementary for 3 and 4

Intermediate grades 5 and 6

Middle School- grades 7 and 8

High school grades 9-12

With The term junior High used for Intermediate or Middle School in some areas.

Then for college you have community colleges where you can earn an Associates Degree or a Trade certifcate.

Four year colleges for Bachelors, Masters or Doctorates.

Doctorates are not longer just Ph.D.’s There are also Ed.D.s and other Degrees that are moving away from theory and going to practice.

Now that I have muddied up the water for you, I guess what I am saying is that in the US we do not have the standard across the board school system that many countries do because each state and school district make many of their own decisions about local policy.

Middle school is 6-8 (junior high is a version of this and is usually 7 and 8 , sometimes 9)

High school is usually 9-12

Community college is usually 13-14 (freshman and sophomore)

Bachelor’s degree (undergraduate studies) is 13-16 (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior)

Masters Degree (graduate studies)

Specialist Degrees are offered in some disciplines

Doctorate

A lot of the discrepancies in the elementary/middle/high school grade overlaps is usually because of the amount of room available in the different buildings–the districts use the space availabe as effeciently as they can. Some districts have buildings just for kindergarten and some have just for 5th or 6th grade, again, it is up to the district to use its infrastructure as effeciently as possible.

Community or junior colleges offer 2 year Associate degrees and the students can then go on to University to complete the remaining two years and earn their Bachelor’s degrees.

2. Bachelor’s Degree

3. Master’s Degree

4. PhD