Bastian Lehmann knew he wanted to attend a global university where he could study in English, so the German national narrowed his options down to several schools in Scotland and the U.S.

Ultimately, Lehmann enrolled at the University of Rochester in upstate New York. He liked that from the start he would be able to select his own classes and explore his diverse interests — economics, Italian and music.

“I have so much freedom to just choose what I want to do,” the now-rising sophomore says. The European programs he was considering didn’t offer the same level of choice, he says.

As Lehmann discovered, the undergraduate academic experience in the U.S. often differs from the experience in Europe. Prospective students weighing college in the U.S. and Europe should think about, among other things, the type of classes they want to take and how long they want to be in school.

In the U.S., it generally takes four years to earn a bachelor’s degree. However, undergraduate programs in a number of European countries are typically only three years long. The main difference is that U.S. programs include a lot of general education courses that many European programs don’t.

General education courses are often not directly related to a student’s major but are required to graduate. They tend to emphasize skills such as writing and critical thinking and expose students to a variety of subject areas.

American colleges regard general education as essential, and European universities do not, says Paul L. Gaston, trustees professor emeritus at Kent State University in Ohio. Gaston and other experts say European students are expected to gain this type of knowledge in high school and be ready to narrow their focus when they go to college.

This means that students in Europe have to decide on an area of study early on, often as they fill out their college applications. Experts say this early specialization has pros and cons.

One benefit, says Katja Simons, executive director at the German University Alliance, is “you choose your subject from the start and you’re able to focus on those areas in-depth and prepare yourself for the labor market or for continuing on to a master’s degree.”

One criticism is that three-year programs are too structured, says Simons, which doesn’t give students a lot of freedom to explore.

[Learn six things about earning an undergraduate degree in Germany.]

In the U.S., undergraduate students often don’t have to declare their major until they are a year or two into their studies.

“One of the things that the U.S. model does for students is it allows them to have more flexibility in their program of study, ultimately,” says Brendan Cantwell, associate professor in the department of educational administration at Michigan State University. “They can come in undecided, they can explore a little bit, they can shift around in majors, and you can do that for a while without it slowing down your progress to a degree.”

Another contrast that prospective students might notice as they research schools in the U.S. and Europe is a difference in the number of liberal arts programs offered. Liberal arts programs provide undergraduates with a more general education in the humanities, sciences and social sciences, as opposed to having a professional or technical emphasis.

While the U.S. has hundreds of liberal arts colleges, these programs are relatively rare in Europe, says Kara A. Godwin, a research fellow at the Center for International Higher Education at Boston College.

Earlier specialization and fewer liberal arts programs might make earning an undergraduate degree in Europe a better fit for international students who know what they want to study.

But there are additional differences between U.S. and European undergraduate programs that prospective students should consider.

[Get to know the pros and cons of earning a bachelor’s degree in Europe.]

For instance, many U.S. schools offer a robust campus life that a number of European schools do not, experts say. Lehmann, the University of Rochester student, says university-based student clubs are more prominent in the U.S. than in Europe.

Swedish schools often lack a “strong campus culture, so students typically tend to integrate more with city life,” says Niklas Tranaeus, marketing manager for Study in Sweden.

Also, although prospective students can find a growing number of English-taught programs in Europe, the majority of them are graduate-level programs, according to one study. So even though a European degree program is three years long, international students might have to spend additional time learning the native language, says Gaston, which could add to the overall length of their studies.

For students who are torn about where they want to study, Lehmann says, “Look at what kind of a learner you are, what kind of a person you are, and then from there you should see whether the system in the United States or in Europe suits you better.”

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How Bachelor’s Degree Programs in the U.S. and Europe Differ originally appeared on usnews.com