Masters Degrees

A masters degree is an academic degree usually awarded for completion of a postgraduate or graduate course of one to three years in duration. In the United Kingdom it is sometimes awarded for an undergraduate student whose final year consists of higher-level courses and a major research project. In the recent standardized European system of higher education diplomas, it corresponds to a two-year graduate program to be entered after three years of undergraduate studies and in preparation for either high-qualification employment or for doctoral studies.

North America

MA, MS, MSc, MSE, AM, SM

The Master of Arts (Magister Artium) and Master of Science (Magister Scientiæ) degrees are the basic type in most subjects and may be entirely course-based, entirely research-based or (more typically) a mixture.

Admission to a masters program is normally contingent upon holding a bachelors degree, and progressing to a doctoral program usually requires a master's degree. In some fields or graduate programs, work on a doctorate begins immediately after the bachelors degree. Some programs provide for a joint bachelors and masters degree after about five years. Some universities use the Latin degree names, and due to the flexibility of Latin word order, Artium Magister (AM) or Scientiæ Magister (SM) may be used at some schools.

MASc, MEng

The Master of Engineering degree is awarded to students who have done graduate work at the masters level in the field of engineering. While in the United States, candidates in engineering are typically awarded MS degrees, in the U.K. and Canada, they are generally given MSc, MASc or MEng degrees. (An example of an MEng-awarding U.S. university is the University of California, Berkeley, of which the Civil & Environmental Engineering department offers both MS and MEng degrees.)

In Canada, the Master of Applied Science (MASc) is awarded to masters students with a research focus (having completed work leading to a thesis), while an MEng is awarded to masters students with a coursework focus and the completion of a research paper. The distinction between MASc and MEng is not definite since some universities grant only an MEng and some universities grant only an MASc, either research or coursework-focused.

MAT

Coursework and practica leading to a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) degree is intended to prepare individuals for a teaching career in a specific subject of middle and/or secondary-level curricula (i.e., middle or high school). The MAT differs from the MEd degree in that the course requirements are dominated by classes in the subject area to be taught (e.g., foreign language, math, science, etc.) rather than educational theory. Work toward most MAT degrees will, however, necessarily include classes on educational theory in order to meet program and state requirements. Work toward the MAT degree may also include practica (i.e., student teaching).

MBA, MHA, MPA, MAL

Master of Business Administration (MBA), Master of Health Administration (MHA), Master of Arts in Leadership (M.A.L.),and Master of Public Administration (MPA), are professional degrees focusing in management for the private and public sector.

MDiv

The Master of Divinity (M.Div.) is the first professional degree in ministry and is a common academic degree among theological seminaries. It is typically three years in length.

MEd

Master of Education degrees are similar to MA, MS, and MSc where the subject studied is education.

In the United States some states license teachers with a bachelors degree but require a masters within a set number of years as continuing education.

MMus

Master of Music is a three or four year degree in the field of music.

MFA

The Master of Fine Arts (MFA) is a two to three year terminal degree in a creative field of study such as theatre arts, creative writing, filmmaking or studio art.

M.A.L.S., MLA, MLS

The Master of Arts in Liberal Studies (M.A.L.S.), Master of Liberal Arts (MLA), Master of Arts in Liberal Arts (M.A.L.A.) and Master of Liberal Studies (MLS) are interdisciplinary master's degrees, occasionally awarded in specific subjects. Regardless of title, the degrees are essentially similar, usually requiring the completion of a liberal arts curriculum and a master's thesis or capstone project. In the 1950s, Wesleyan University initiated the first master's program of this sort, to refresh the educations of local secondary school teachers. Today, these degrees are often undertaken for personal enrichment, or to explore an interdisciplinary subject that does not conform to the scope of traditional master's degree programs.

MLS, MLIS, MSIS

A Master of Library Science (MLS) degree is the culmination of an interdisciplinary program encompassing information science, information management, librarianship, and/or related topics. Modern variants include Master of Library and Information Studies (MLIS), Master of Information Studies (MSIS), Master of Librarianship, et al.

MPH

The Master of Public Health degree is awarded to students who have completed a post-graduate course of study in Public Health.

MPhil

In the United States and Canada, a Master of Philosophy or Magister Philosophiae (MPhil) degree is sometimes awarded to ABD (all but dissertation) doctoral candidates who have completed all coursework, passed their written and oral examinations, and met any other special requirements before beginning work on the doctoral dissertation.

Assuming all requirements are met, the MPhil degree is generally awarded after about one year of full time study towards a doctorate. The MPhil is considered equivalent to the former French DEA Diplôme d'études approfondies.

MSW

The Master of Social Work (MSW) is a semi-professional degree preparing students to become social workers.

United Kingdom

Undergraduate Masters

(MSci, MChem, MComp, MEng, MMath, MPhys, etc.)

In the UK, many universities now have a four year (five years in Scotland) undergraduate programmes in science courses, with a project in the final year. The awards for these are named after the subject, so a course in mathematics would earn a Master in Mathematics degree, (abbreviated to MMath), or have a general title such as MSci (Master in Science at most universities but Master of Natural Sciences at Cambridge).

Although these degrees reflect a higher level of achievement than the traditional bachelor's degree, some are generally considered less prestigious than postgraduate masters degrees such as MSc and MA. In content the first three years are generally identical to those of the equivalent bachelor's agree while the fourth year is a combination of higher-level taught courses and a research project.

Postgraduate Masters

Postgraduate masters in the United Kingdom can either be "taught" degrees, involving lectures, examination and a short dissertation, or "research" degrees (though the latter have largely been replaced by MPhil and MRes programmes, see below). Taught masters programmes involve 1 or 2 years of full-time study. The programmes are often very intensive and demanding, and concentrate on one very specialised area of knowledge. Some universities also offer a Masters by Learning Contract scheme, where a candidate can specify his or her own learning objectives; these are submitted to supervising academics for approval, and are assessed by means of written reports, practical demonstrations and presentations.

Taught Postgraduate Masters

(MSc, MA, LL.M., MLitt, MSSc, etc)

The most common types of postgraduate taught Masters degrees are the Master of Arts (MA) awarded in Arts, Humanities, Theology and Social Sciences and the Master of Science (MSc) awarded in pure and applied Science.

However, some universities - particularly those in Scotland - award the Master of Letters (MLitt) Master of Letters to students in the Arts, Humanities, Divinity and Social Sciences. [It should be noted that the MLitt is a research degree at the University of Cambridge, where the Master of Philosphy (MPhil) is the stanadard one-year taught degree.]

In Law the standard taught degree is the Master of Laws, but certain courses may lead to the award of MA or MLitt.

Until recently, both the undergraduate and postgraduate masters degrees were awarded without grade or class (like the class of an honours degree). Nowadays however, masters degrees are normally classified into the categories of Pass or Distinction, which tend to require marks of 50% and 70% respectively.

Research Postgraduate Masters

(MPhil and MRes)

The Master of Philosophy (MPhil) is a research degree awarded for the completion of a thesis. It is a shorter version of the Ph.D. and some universities routinely enter potential PhD students into the MPhil programme and allow them to upgrade to the full PhD programme a year or two into the course.

The Master of Research (MRes) degree is a more structured and organised version of the MPhil, usually designed to prepare a student for a career in research. For example, an MRes may combine individual research with periods of work placement in research establisments.

Like the PhD, the MPhil and MRes degrees are awarded without class or grade.

MAs in Oxford, Cambridge and Dublin

The universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Dublin award masters degrees to BAs without further examination, when a certain number of years after matriculation (7 in the case of Oxford and Cambridge) have passed, and (in some but not all cases) upon payment of a nominal fee. It is commonplace for recipients of the degree to have graduated several years previously and to have had little official contact with the university or academic life since then. The only real significance of these degrees is that they historically conferred voting rights in University elections, and certain other privileges e.g. the right to dine at the holder's college's high table. They still do confer some restricted and rarely used voting rights. The MAs awarded by Oxford and Cambridge are colloquially known as the Oxbridge MA. The University of Cambridge also offers an MA to certain senior staff - both academic and non-academic - after three years' employment with the university.

Until the advent of the modern research university in the mid 19th century, several other British and American universities also gave such degrees "in course".

Scottish MA

In Scotland the first degree in Arts, Fine Art, Humanities and Social Sciences awarded by many universities is the Master of Arts It should be noted the Science and Law faculties of Scottish universities award the BSc and LLB degrees respectively and the New Universities generally award the BA. The Scottish MA is roughly equivalent to a BA from a University elsewhere in the United Kingdom.

European Union

In order to facilitate the movement of students between European Union countries, a standardized schedule of higher education diplomas, also known as the Bologna process, was proposed: a 3-year undergraduate degree called licence or bachelors degree, then a two-year diploma called master, then a doctorate, meant to be obtained in 3 years. Because of these indicated schedules, the reform is also referred to as 3-5-3.

Austria

The traditional Austrian equivalent to the Master degree is the Diplomstudium, (At an university, only.) leading to the title Diplom-Ingenieur (female title: Diplom-Ingenieurin) in engineering or Magister (female: Magistra) in almost every other discipline. This is a first degree after 5 years of study. (The fields of Medicine, Dentistry, and Veterinary Medicine pose an exception. The first degree in these disciplines is a professional doctorate.)

Due the Bologna process these first degrees are replaced by postgraduate degrees (2 years) leading to the same titles . The admission to these new degrees require a Bakkalaureus degree (female: Bakkalaura - the Austrian title for a Bachelor degree after 3 years of study) in the same or a related field or an equivalent Bachelor from other countries. The continuing use of the traditional titles for the new degrees reflects the relatively high social prestige of these titles in the Austrian society. The traditional degrees at an Austrian Fachhochschule (University of Applied Science), the Magister(FH)/Magistra(FH) and the Diplom-Ingenieur(FH)/Diplom-Ingenieurin(FH) (first degrees after 4 years of study, and not equivalent to the Master degree) are also replaced by undergraduate Bakkalaureus(FH)/Bakkalaura(FH) degrees (3 years) and postgraduate degrees (2 years, and equivalent to a Master degree) with the traditional titels.

However, in some disciplines existing also postgraduate degrees with the English title Master. (e.g. the MBA in business administration or the Master of Advanced Studies, the Master of Arts, and the Master of Science in various fields of study) The admission to these new degrees also require an undergraduate degree, but not always in the same or a related discipline.

Belgium

In Belgium, owning a masters degree means that you have completed a higher education (usually university) programme of 4 or 5 years. Before the Bologna process most university degrees required 4 years of studies (leading to a licence), but some programmes required 5 years of study. An example in the field of education in business/management was the 5-year programme of "Ingénieur de Gestion" (Dutch "Handelsingenieur" - English' "Management Engineer") with an important amount of mathematics and sciences, and which corresponds to a M.Sc. in Management. This degree co-existed with an undergraduate degree in business (4 years) named "Licence en sciences économiques appliquées (Dutch. "Licentiaat in toegepaste economische wetenschappen" - English. "Licence in applied economics").

Germany

In Germany the Magister or Diplom (first degree after 5 years, from either an University or a Technische Hochschule and NOT from a Fachhochschule (University of Applied Science)) has traditionally been the equivalent to the Master degree.

Due the Bologna process these academic titles are mostly being replaced by the (postgraduate) Master degree, which has caused widespread scepticism among many faculty and student body members who prefer the traditional title and curriculum. The traditional degree at a German Fachhochschule (University of Applied Science), the Diplom(FH) (first degree after 4 years of study) is also replaced by undergraduate Bachelor's degrees (3 years) and postgraduate Master's (2 years).

Finland

In Finland, the introduction of Bologna Process has standardized most of the degrees into the European model. The higher degree is called Master (of respective field) in all fields of study and takes two yeas after the Bachelor's degree. Medicine-related fields of Medicine, Dentistry, and Veterinary Medicine pose an exception. In medical fields, the licenciate (In Finnish, lisensiaatti) is an equivalent degree, the completion of which takes five (dentistry) or six years (medicine and veterinary), while the Bachelor degree is gained after second year of studies. In Engineering, the higher degree is either diplomi-insinööri (literally: "Engineer with diploma") or arkkitehti (Architect) although in international use MSc is used. In Pharmacy, the degree is proviisori. All such degrees retaining their historical name are classified as Masters. Some other Masters degrees give the right to use the traditional title of the degree-holder. E.g. the Masters of Science in Agriculture and Forestry may use the titles of metsänhoitaja or agronomi depending on their field of study.

France

In France, a traditional diploma was the maîtrise (which translates literally as "master's qualification") after 4 years of studies. This diploma becomes the first year of the Masters program, often referred to as M1. Because of this change, legal texts specifying a maîtrise (for instance, those defining the conditions for the external agrégation) had to be amended. The Masters programs subsume the former DEA (research-oriented 1-year degree), and DESS (industry-oriented 1-year degree), which become the second year of the Master (M2).

Italy

The old university system (Vecchio ordinamento) consisted in a unique five year course program, followed by a variable period (6-12 months usually) for the thesis work. This system has been reformed in 1999/2000 to adapt it to the Bologna process. Now (Nuovo Ordinamento) you have a three year course program called Laurea Breve, and after two years of specialisation, called Laurea Specialistica. Both have a final study work. Then, one can start a phd program. Medicine universities have not changed the system, and consist in six year of study followed, eventually, by the specialisation (3-6 years more).

Netherlands

In the Netherlands, the traditional acadamic degrees were doctorandus (drs.) (after 4 years; 5 years for some natural sciences, 6 years for medicine), ingenieur (ir.) (after 5 years) and for Law meester in de rechten (mr.) (after 4 years). Even though universities have adopted the masters and bachelors degree system, the old titles drs., ir. and mr. are still used (and the use of them is protected by law). The doctorandus (literally meaning "he who has to become doctor") degree is comparable with the MA degree (sometimes MSc). The ingenieur (engineer) degree is comparable with an M.Eng. or MSc degree. Finally, the mr. degree is comparable with the LL.M degree. In the Netherlands a suffix degree (MA / MSc / MEng / LL.M) can be used for holders of a prefix degree (drs., ir., mr.) instead of the prefix degree (e.g. 'ir. Jansen' or 'Jansen MSc'). A pre- and postfix can not be used at the same time (e.g. 'drs. Jansen MSc').

Poland

Currently there are two models of higher education in Poland.

In the traditional model, a masters degree is awarded after completion of a university curriculum—a 5 year programme in science courses at a university or other similar institution, with a project in the final year called magisterium (it can be translated as a Master of Arts or a Master of Science thesis) that often requires carrying out research in a given field. An MA degree is called a magister (abbreviated mgr) except for medical education where it is called a lekarz medycyny (this gives the holder the right to use the title of physician) or a lekarz weterynarii in the veterinary field. Technical universities usually give the title of magister inzynier (abbreviated mgr inz.) corrseponding to an MSc Eng degree.

More and more institutions introduce another model, which as of 2005 is still less popular. In this model, following the Bologna process directives, higher education is split into a 3-year bachelor programme ending with a title of licencjat (non-technical) or inzynier (technical fields), and a 2-year programme (uzupelniajace studia magisterskie) giving the title of magister or magister inzynier. Nevertheless, even in these institutions, it is often possible to bridge the bachelor education directly into the master programme, without formally obtaining the licencjat degree, thus shortening the time needed for completing the education slightly.

Depending on field and school, the timing may be slightly different.

Hong Kong

MA, MSc, MSocSc, MSW, MEng, LLM

Hong Kong requires two years of full-time coursework to achieve a masters degree.

For part-time study, three years of study are normally required to achieve a postgraduate degree.

MPhil

As in the United Kingdom, MPhil or Master of Philosophy is a research degree awarded for the completion of a thesis, and is a shorter version of the PhD.

 

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