![Carnegie Building](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Carnegie_Building.jpg)
Undergraduate education is education conducted after
secondary education
Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final pha ...
and before
postgraduate education
Postgraduate or graduate education refers to Academic degree, academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by higher education, post-secondary students who have earned an Undergraduate education, un ...
. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
. For example, in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, an entry-level university student is known as an ''undergraduate'', while students of higher degrees are known as ''
graduate students
Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree.
The organization and struc ...
''.
Upon completion of a number of required and elective
courses as part of an undergraduate program, the student would earn the corresponding
degree
Degree may refer to:
As a unit of measurement
* Degree (angle), a unit of angle measurement
** Degree of geographical latitude
** Degree of geographical longitude
* Degree symbol (°), a notation used in science, engineering, and mathematics
...
. (In some regions, individual "courses" and the "program" collection are given other terms, such as "units" and "course", respectively.)
In some other educational systems, undergraduate education is
postsecondary education
Tertiary education, also referred to as third-level, third-stage or post-secondary education, is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank, for example, defines tertiary education as including univers ...
up to and including the level of a
master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. ; this is the case for some science courses in Britain and some medicine courses in Europe.
Programs
Africa
Nigerian system
In
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
, undergraduate degrees (excluding Medicine, Medical Laboratory Science, Nursing, Engineering, Law and Architecture) are four-year-based courses. Medicine (MBBS) and Architecture normally take six years to complete studies while Medical Laboratory Science, Nursing, Law and Engineering courses take five years to complete studies, usually, all six years are taken to improve their chances. Undergraduate nursing degrees or diplomas usually take two to four years and sometimes 5 years to complete, whereas graduate degrees are an additional two years or more.
South African system
The South African system usually has a three-year undergraduate bachelor's degree, with two or three majors. (There are exceptions, such as the medical qualification (MBChB), which is six years, and Engineering which is four.) A fourth year, known as an Honours year, is considered a post-graduate degree. It is usually course-driven, although may include a project or thesis.
Americas
Brazilian system
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
follows the major traits of the continental European system; free public schools are available from kindergarten up to postgraduation, both as a right established in Article 6, ''caput'' of the
Brazilian Constitution
The Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil ( pt, Constituição da República Federativa do Brasil) is the supreme law of Brazil. It is the foundation and source of the legal authority underlying the existence of Brazil and the feder ...
and as a duty of the State in Article 208, Items I, IV and V, of the Brazilian Constitution.
Students choose their specific course of studies before joining the university. Admission to university is obtained by means of a competitive entrance exam known as
Vestibular
The Vestibular (from pt, vestíbulo, "entrance hall") is a competitive examination and is the primary and widespread entrance system used by Brazilian universities to select the students admitted.
The Vestibular usually takes place from Novem ...
(a concept somewhat similar to the ''
Baccalauréat
The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...
'' in France). A later system introduced in 2009, adopted by most federal universities, uses the high school national examination (
ENEM) result as part or a replacement of the Vestibular grade.
Depending on the chosen course, upon graduating the student is granted: a technologist diploma, 3 years to complete, a
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
's
diploma
A diploma is a document awarded by an educational institution (such as a college or university) testifying the recipient has graduated by successfully completing their courses of studies. Historically, it has also referred to a charter or offici ...
, which usually takes 4 or, in the case of
Law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
,
Veterinary
Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...
,
Geology
Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ear ...
and
Engineering
Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...
, 5 years to complete; or a professional diploma, which normally require 5 or, in the case of
medicine
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...
, 6 years to complete.
United States system
![Lawn UVa looking south fall 2010 (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Lawn_UVa_looking_south_fall_2010_%28cropped%29.jpg)
In the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, ''undergraduate'' refers to a student who is studying for a bachelor's degree. The most common bachelor's degrees are Bachelor of Arts (
BA or AB) and Bachelor of Science (
BS or SB), but other degrees such as Bachelor of Fine Arts (
BFA), Bachelor of Business Administration (
BBA), Bachelor of Music (
BM), Bachelor of Social Work (
BSW
British Standard Whitworth (BSW) is an imperial-unit-based screw thread standard, devised and specified by Joseph Whitworth in 1841 and later adopted as a British Standard. It was the world's first national screw thread standard, and is the basis ...
), Bachelor of Engineering (
BE), Bachelor of Science in Nursing (
BSN), and Bachelor of Architecture (
BArch BArch may refer to:
* Bundesarchiv (BArch), the German Federal Archives
* Bachelor of Architecture
The Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch.) is a bachelor's degree designed to satisfy the academic requirement of practising architecture around the wor ...
) are also possible. Most commonly these degrees require four years of full-time study after high school.
Unlike in the British model, degrees in law and medicine are not offered at the undergraduate level and instead are completed at a graduate level, after earning a bachelor's degree. Neither field specifies or prefers any undergraduate major, though medical schools require a set of courses that must be taken before enrollment.
Students can also choose to attend a two-year
community college
A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior sec ...
before further study at a four-year college or university. In most states, community colleges are operated either by a division of the state university or by local special districts subject to guidance from a state agency. Community colleges award
associate degree
An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree.
The fi ...
s of different types, some intended to prepare students to transfer to four-year institutions (e.g. Associate of Arts (AA), Associate of Science (AS)), and others intended to provide vocational skills and training for students wishing to enter into or advance in a profession. In some states considerable attention has been given to make sure that community college courses in fact prepare the students for the continuation courses they will encounter at the local college; this process of bringing courses into sequence is called
articulation. Some community colleges have automatic enrollment agreements with a local college or university, where the community college provides the first two years of study and the university provides the remaining years of study, sometimes all on one campus. The community colleges award associate degrees, while universities and colleges award the bachelor's. However, some community colleges, such as
Brazosport College
Brazosport College (BC) is a public community college in Lake Jackson, Texas. The college was opened in 1968 and offers primarily associate degrees and some bachelor's degrees. The campus features The Clarion, a regional musical performance ven ...
in
Lake Jackson, Texas
Lake Jackson is a city in Brazoria County, Texas, United States, within the Greater Houston metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 28,177.
In 1942 a portion of Lake Jackson was first developed as a company town for wor ...
offer bachelor's degrees along with associate degrees. Conversely, some universities such as the
University of Delaware
The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 mas ...
also award associate degrees.
In the United States, "college" and "university" are terms used differently in different states; New York's terminology is especially confusing (see
University of the State of New York
The University of the State of New York (USNY, ) is the state of New York (state), New York's governmental umbrella organization for both public and private institutions in New York State. The "university" is not an educational institution: it i ...
). A university is usually larger than a college, and has programs at the graduate level, but the distinction is not clear-cut. Some colleges (like
Smith College
Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...
) award graduate degrees, for example, and some colleges are larger than some universities. Some states have requirements a college must meet before it is allowed to call itself a university. Institutions seeking to grow have pursued various steps to turn two-year
junior colleges
A junior college (sometimes referred to colloquially as a juco, JuCo or JC) is a post-secondary educational institution offering vocational training designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations and workers in su ...
into community colleges, community colleges into four-year colleges, awarding baccalaureate degrees, sometimes while still a community college, and colleges into universities, with graduate (post-baccalaureate) programs.
Asia
Bangladeshi system
In
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
, 3-year undergraduate programs are known as Degree (Pass) courses and 4-year undergraduate programs are known as
Honours
Honour (British English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of social teaching and of personal ethos, that manifests itself as a ...
courses.
Hong Kong system
![The University of Hong Kong](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/The_University_of_Hong_Kong.jpg)
In
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
, the English system is followed. Students sit for the
Certificate of Education examinations at around sixteen years of age, and the
Advanced-level, or A-level examinations at around eighteen, then follow by three years of undergraduate education, except for a few specific fields, such as medicine, nursing and law. This is due to be changed, with five-year secondary education and two-year
matriculation examination
A matriculation examination or matriculation exam is a university entrance examination, which is typically held towards the end of secondary school. After passing the examination, a student receives a school leaving certificate recognising academi ...
combined and shortened to six years
matriculation
Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination.
Australia
In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now ...
, and undergraduate education lengthened to four years. Students may be able to receive
general education
General Education is a 2012 comedy film, directed by Tom Morris, starring Chris Sheffield, Maiara Walsh, Elaine Hendrix, Bobby Campo, Janeane Garofalo and Larry Miller and produced by Pelican House Productions. The film was shot in Chico and Gr ...
in their first years in universities, more akin to the North American system. The first batch of students under the new system will enter universities in 2012.
Alternatives are undergraduate certificates or diplomas, with some equivalent to associate degree in educational level.
Indian system
India's higher education system is the third largest in the world, next to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. The main governing body at the
tertiary level
Tertiary education, also referred to as third-level, third-stage or post-secondary education, is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank, for example, defines tertiary education as including univers ...
is the
University Grants Commission, which enforces its standards, advises the government, and helps coordinate between the centre and the state. Accreditation for higher learning is overseen by 15 autonomous institutions established by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
![Madras University Senate House](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Madras_University_Senate_House.jpg)
In
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
the Graduation system is classified into two parts: Undergraduate (UG) and Postgraduate (PG). It takes three or four years to complete an undergraduate degree. The three-year undergraduate programs are mostly in the fields of arts, commerce, science etc., and the four-year programs are mostly in the fields of technology, engineering, pharmaceutical sciences, agriculture etc. However, for medicine, law and architecture, the period has been five years. The possessor of the first UG is referred to as graduate and that of the PG degree as post-graduate.
Other than UG and PG there are various 1 to 2 year diploma courses available.
Indian higher education system has expanded at a fast pace by adding nearly 20,000 colleges and more than 8 million students in a decade from 2000–01 to 2010–11. As of 2020, India has over 1000 universities, with a break up of 54
central universities, 416
state universities
A state university system in the United States is a group of public universities supported by an individual state, territory or federal district. These systems constitute the majority of public-funded universities in the country.
State univers ...
, 125
deemed universities
Deemed university, or deemed-to-be-university, is an accreditation granted to higher educational institutions in India by the Department of Higher Education. , the UGC lists 127 institutes which were granted the deemed to be university status.
...
, 361
private universities
Private universities and private colleges are institutions of higher education, not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. They may (and often do) receive from governments tax breaks, public student loans, and grant (money ...
, 7
Institute under State Legislature Act
Institute under State Legislature Act is a type of university-level institution in India, established or incorporated by a state legislature act. Although such institutes do not come under the higher education department of the state and are run a ...
, and 159
Institutes of National Importance
Institute of National Importance (INI) is a status that may be conferred on a premier public higher education institution in India by an act of Parliament of India, an institution which "serves as a pivotal player in developing highly skilled per ...
which include IIMs, AIIMS, IITs, IIITs, IISERs and NITs among others. Other institutions include 52,627 colleges as
government degree colleges, private colleges, standalone institutes and post-graduate research institutions, functioning under these universities as reported by the MHRD in 2020. Colleges may be Autonomous, i.e. empowered to examine their own degrees, up to
PhD PHD or PhD may refer to:
* Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification
Entertainment
* '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series
* ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic
* Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group
** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...
level in some cases, or non-autonomous, in which case their examinations are under the supervision of the university to which they are affiliated; in either case, however, degrees are awarded in the name of the university rather than the college.
Japanese system
Undergraduate education in Japan requires four years, which is divided into two stages;
associate degree
An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree.
The fi ...
's level first-half two years and
bachelor
A bachelor is a man who is not and has never been married.Bachelors are, in Pitt & al.'s phrasing, "men who live independently, outside of their parents' home and other institutional settings, who are neither married nor cohabitating". ().
Etymo ...
's level second-half two years.
Bachelor's degrees are awarded only by universities and
NIAD-QE
The , abbreviated NIAD-QE, is Independent Administrative Institution affiliated with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), whose objectives are:
* To evaluate education and research activities of Japanese ...
.
Pakistani system
![June21-2004-ThePunjabUniversity-OldCampusBuilding-1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/June21-2004-ThePunjabUniversity-OldCampusBuilding-1.jpeg)
In
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
, it generally requires four years to complete a
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
in Arts, Sciences, Dentistry, Engineering or Business Administration such as
BA,
BS,
BDS,
BE/BS/BSc Engineering or
BBA and five years for bachelor's degrees in medicine (
MBBS
Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United King ...
), Physiotherapy (
DPT DPT may refer to:
Science and medicine
* Dpt (unit) (dioptre/diopter), most commonly a unit measuring refraction and power in a lens or curved mirror
*Dermatopontin, a human extracellular matrix protein
*Dipropyltryptamine, a psychedelic tryptamin ...
), Pharmacy (
Pharm.D
A Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD; New Latin: ''Pharmaciae Doctor'') is a professional doctorate in pharmacy. In some countries, it is a doctoral degree to practice the profession of pharmacy or to become a clinical pharmacist. In many countries t ...
) and Architecture (
B.Arch.
The Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch.) is a bachelor's degree designed to satisfy the academic requirement of practising architecture around the world.
Australia
Architectural education in Australia varies depending on the university offering th ...
) after successfully completing 12 years of schooling. 4 years bachelor's degree is offered in various universities of Pakistan such as
COMSATS Institute of Information Technology
The COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), formerly known as COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CIIT), is a public university in Pakistan. It is a multi-campus university with its principal seat located in Islamabad. Comsats was envisio ...
(CIIT),
University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore
The University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore (UET Lahore) is a public university located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan specializing in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects. It is the oldest and one of the most ...
(UET Lahore),
University of Engineering and Technology, Taxila
The University of Engineering and Technology, Taxila (UET Taxila) is a public university located in Taxila, Punjab, Pakistan. It was established in 1975 as a campus of the University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore and chartered as an in ...
(UET Taxila),
National University of Sciences and Technology
The National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST) ( ur, , Qaumī Jāmi'ā barā'e Sāins va Ṭaiknālōjī) is a multi-campus public research university having its main campus in Islamabad, Pakistan.
The university offers undergraduate ...
(NUST),
Lahore University of Management Sciences
Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) () is a private research university, located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.
In 1983, Syed Babar Ali, a renowned businessman in Pakistan, recognized the shortage of qualified managers in the countr ...
(LUMS) and
National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences
The National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences (Initials: NUCES) ( ur, ), also commonly known as "Foundation for Advancement of Science and Technology" (FAST), ( ur, ) is a private research university with multiple campuses in dif ...
(NU).
The modern educational system comprises the following five stages: The
Primary school
A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...
lasting five years for children 5–10 years old in grades one to five; a
Middle school
A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...
of three years for children 10 to 13 years old, covering grades six through eight; a two-year secondary, or
Matriculation
Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination.
Australia
In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now ...
consists of grades nine and ten, for children 13 to 15 years old; a two-year higher secondary, or
Intermediate college
A junior college (sometimes referred to colloquially as a juco, JuCo or JC) is a post-secondary educational institution offering vocational training designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations and workers in su ...
, leading to an
F.A. in arts or
F.Sc. in science; and a fifth stage covering college and university programs leading to baccalaureate, professional, master's and doctorate degrees. The pre-primary or preparatory classes, called kachi (literally, unripe) or
Nursery school
A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary school ...
, were formally integrated into the education system in 1988.
Europe
English, Welsh, and Northern Irish system
Students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland may usually enter university from the age of eighteen, often having studied
A-levels
The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...
and thus having had thirteen to fifteen years of schooling. Occasionally students who finish A Level or equivalent qualifications early (after skipping a year in school on the grounds of academic giftedness) may enter below this age but large universities are now setting minimum age limits of 16 or 17 after a number of well publicised "child prodigies" were found to be emotionally and mentally unprepared for university life.
Applications for undergraduate courses in UK higher education are made through the
Universities and Colleges Admissions Service
The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS ) is a UK-based organisation whose main role is to operate the application process for British universities. It operates as an independent charity, funded by fees charged to applicants an ...
(UCAS).
For their first degree, most students read for the degree of bachelor, which usually takes three years, however in the sciences and engineering integrated courses covering both undergraduate level and advanced degree level leading to the degree of
master
Master or masters may refer to:
Ranks or titles
* Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans
*Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...
,
usually taking four years and including a research project or
dissertation are popular. Given the integrated nature of these programs someone who gains a master's degree via an integrated program is not usually admitted to the degree of bachelor.
Master's degrees conferred after extended programs are not to be conflated with the degree of
Master of Arts conferred at Oxbridge and Dublin, which is not a substantive qualification, but reflects the ancient practice of those three universities of promoting Bachelors of Arts to Masters of Arts (and thus full membership of the university) six or seven years after matriculation.
[
Honours degrees and integrated master's degrees are awarded with 1st, upper 2nd, lower 2nd or 3rd class honours. If a student passes the course but fails to do so sufficiently well for third class honours to be awarded he will be awarded with an ordinary degree. It is possible to use the abbreviation "Hons" after the degree ]postnominals
Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles, designatory letters or simply post-nominals, are letters placed after a person's name to indicate that the individual holds a position, academic degree, accreditation, ...
to indicate that the degree has been passed with honours and is not an ordinary degree.
Many universities offer sandwich course
A sandwich degree, or sandwich course, is an academic degree or higher education course (also known as tertiary education) involving practical work experience in addition to academic study. The work experience is often referred as an industrial pla ...
s or an extramural year, which offer work placements for a short period of time in a relevant industry before students complete their studies. Taking a sandwich course may make the course last a year longer than it would otherwise.
With very few exceptions, nearly all universities with the power to award degrees are heavily state financed. However, they also rely on tuition fees set by the government at a maximum index-linked level, repayable after graduation contingent on attaining a certain level of income, and with the state paying all fees for students from the poorest backgrounds. UK students are generally entitled to student loans for maintenance with repayment contingent on income. Unlike in other European countries, the British government does not own the universities' assets and university staff are not civil servants. United Kingdom universities are therefore better described as autonomous, intellectually-independent institutions with public funding, rather than public universities per se. The crown does not control syllabi, with the exception of teacher training. The crown restricts the power to award degrees to those with a royal charter
A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, bu ...
, in the case of traditional universities, or authorization from the Secretary of State for Universities, in the case of modern universities. Universities accredited in foreign countries, such as Richmond University
Richmond American University London is a private university in London, United Kingdom. Richmond was founded in 1972,by British educator Cyril Taylor.
The university awards US degrees from the American state of Delaware, where Richmond is accr ...
are, however, free to operate.
European Bologna process systems
In many countries, the English distinction between a bachelor's
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ye ...
and master's
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. degree is being introduced by the Bologna process. Under the new Bologna reform, universities in Europe are introducing the Bachelor level (BA or BS) degree, often by dividing a 5-year Master-level program into two parts (3-year Bachelor's + 2-year Master's), where students are not obligated to continue with the second Master's-degree part. These new bachelor's degrees are similar in structure to British bachelor's degrees.
If there is a separate undergraduate degree, higher degrees (License, Master, Doctorat) can be gained after completing the undergraduate degree. In the traditional German system, there were no undergraduate degrees in some fields, such as engineering: students continued to Master's level education without any administrative breakpoints, and employers would not consider half-finished master's degrees.
The Bachelor's phase in The Netherlands can be fulfilled either at university or at a university of applied sciences
A university of applied sciences (UAS), nowadays much less commonly called a polytechnic university or vocational university, is an institution of higher education and sometimes research that provides vocational education and grants academic de ...
. These two institutions differ from each other in the level students learn abstract concepts. Education at universities is aimed at research and fundamental principles while at universities of applied sciences it concentrates on applying knowledge in a vocation. Universities of applied sciences typically do not offer master and PhD programs.
Scottish system
Students in Scotland usually enter university in the year they turn eighteen, with many starting at seventeen; courses take a year longer than in the rest of the UK.
At the older universities the degree of Master of Arts
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
is conferred in the arts subjects after four years while the newer universities instead confer the degree of Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
. The degree of Master of Arts conferred by the Ancient Scottish Universities is equivalent to the degree of Bachelor of Arts at other universities and does not require the level of study necessitated for the other degrees of master awarded by these universities. The degree instead reflects the ancient traditions of these universities.[
In the sciences, students usually read for the degree of bachelor, which usually takes four years. However, as with the rest of the UK, integrated master's degrees are popular in science and engineering, although in Scotland they last for five years. Degree classification is the same as in the rest of UK.
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Other European systems
In many other, particularly continental European systems, an "undergraduate" degree in the American sense does not exist. Because students are expected to have received a sound general education at the secondary level, in a school such as a gymnasium or lycee
In France, secondary education is in two stages:
* ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15.
* ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between ...
, students in Europe enroll in a specific course of studies they wish to pursue upon entry into a university. In the US, students only specialize in a "major" during the last years of college. Specializing in a field of study upon entry into a university means most students graduate after four to five years of study. The fields available include those only taught as graduate degrees in the US, such as law or medicine.
In the traditional German system, there is a vocational degree (diploma FH) that is similar in length, and is also considered an academic degree. Though it is designed as a specialist degree, in contrast to the Diplom degree at ''university'', which claims to be more generalist. Germany itself, however, is currently abolishing the legal distinction between Fachhochschule
A ''Fachhochschule'' (; plural ''Fachhochschulen''), abbreviated FH, is a university of applied sciences (UAS), in other words a German tertiary education institution that provides professional education in many applied sciences and applied arts ...
and university. They are both translated as university and they both provide bologna-compliant and equivalent postgraduate degrees.[''Ländergemeinsame Strukturvorgaben – Beschluss der Kultusministerkonferenz vom 10.10.2003 i.d.F. vom 15.06.2007'']
Not obligatory and sometimes applied at universities in the Netherlands are the propaedeutic
Propaedeutics or propedeutics (from Ancient Greek , ''propaídeusis'' 'preparatory education') is a historical term for an introductory course into an art or science. The etymology of propedeutics comprises the Latin prefix ''pro'', meaning earlier ...
exams. The entire curriculum of the first two semesters of the bachelor's programme is part of the propaedeutic exams. In most bachelor's studies, students are required to obtain their propaedeutic certificate within three semesters after starting the course. A propaedeutic certificate also counts as a requirement for participating in a university level bachelor's study. The propaedeutic exams have the purpose of assessing whether a student has the appropriate capacities in order to complete the course.
At some Swedish universities (such as the Royal Institute of Technology
The KTH Royal Institute of Technology ( sv, Kungliga Tekniska högskolan, lit=Royal Institute of Technology), abbreviated KTH, is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden. KTH conducts research and education in engineering and technolo ...
), PhD courses are sometimes referred to as "graduate courses", whereas courses for other students (up to master level) sometimes are referred to as "undergraduate courses". The system at many Finnish universities is similar.
In the French system, the first degree of tertiary education was reached two years after the baccalauréat
The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...
. Amongst these degrees the university-delivered DEUG has disappeared, whereas Diplôme universitaire de technologie
The University Institutes of Technology or IUT (french: Instituts Universitaires de Technologie) are parts of the university system in France. The IUT were created in 1966. There are 108 IUTs which are attached to 80 universities including the on ...
, Brevet de Technicien Supérieur The Brevet de technicien supérieur (BTS) senior technologist’s certificate is a national diploma of higher education in France, established in 1959.
The technician certificate is usually earned in two years, after graduating with a Bac (baccala ...
or classe préparatoire aux grandes écoles
The ''classes préparatoires aux grandes écoles'' (CPGE) (English: Higher School Preparatory Classes), commonly called ''classes prépas'' or ''prépas'', are part of the French post-secondary education system. They consist of two years of stud ...
still exist. According to the Bologna process, this two-year curriculum will be replaced by the three-year ''licence'', yet existing.
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