American experts studying abroad analyze the concepts of academic degree and professional degree.

. At present, the United States implements associate degree system, bachelor degree system, master degree system and doctoral degree system, which represent four different academic levels of undergraduate and postgraduate education respectively. According to the nature of the degree, it can be divided into academic degree and professional degree. Here we will introduce you to various degrees in the United States.

An associate degree from an American university that has completed a two-year course.

After completing secondary education, students who enter four-year institutions of higher learning and complete the first two years of courses, or students who only complete all the liberal arts courses in two-year junior, technical or community colleges, can obtain an associate degree or associate degree in applied science after completing the corresponding vocational and technical courses; Some courses in two-year institutions can sometimes be completed in 65,438+0 years or even less, and they get qualification certificates instead of degrees. A quasi-local degree is helpful for job hunting, but its courses are professional and its academic level is not high, so the traditional "first degree" in American higher education usually refers to a bachelor's degree. However, in recent years, two-year junior college has developed vigorously, and associate degree has gradually become the basic degree of undergraduate education. It should be noted that an associate degree is only a qualification certificate for completing two years of college or community college study, and it is not a necessary stage for studying for a bachelor's degree.

bachelor's degree

After graduating from high school and obtaining a diploma, you can get a bachelor's degree by successfully completing four years of college or university study. Bachelor of Arts and Sciences usually lasts for four years, with two semesters per academic year, but at present, many colleges and universities implement three-year or three-semester system (autumn, spring and summer).

The American custom is to award bachelor of arts degrees to students who study languages, literature and other people's literature, history and art, and bachelor of science degrees to students who study social sciences and natural sciences; In addition, professional colleges also offer various professional degrees. Because the bachelor of arts is the oldest degree, some colleges grant bachelor of arts degrees except the bachelor of physiology in natural science, engineering and applied science. This phenomenon has changed at present.

The first two years of a bachelor's degree course are usually a wide range of basic subjects, including some compulsory subjects, such as English writing, foreign languages, literature, social sciences and science. In the last two years, students mainly study professional courses, and students should choose one main subject and two minor subjects. Teaching implements the credit system; In institutions with two semesters a year, if you have 15 weeks of lectures or 2-3 hours of practical work every semester, it will be counted as one credit, and you can only award a bachelor's degree if you complete 1 20 credits within four years. Students usually take 4-5 courses at the same time each semester.

Some colleges allow students to enter professional colleges in the third and fourth years of college, which is especially common in law schools, medical schools and engineering schools. It may take more than five years for these students to get a bachelor's degree, but some of their undergraduate education and postgraduate education overlap in time.

master's degree

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Generally speaking, master's degree can be divided into two categories: Master of Arts and Sciences and Master of Specialty. Master of Arts and Sciences includes Master of Arts and Science. Because of the different usage of degrees, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish them. Master of arts and sciences generally needs 24-30 credits of postgraduate courses, most of which are in this field. You can also transfer a certain amount of postgraduate course credits from other schools. The minimum length of study is one year, generally 2-3 years, and the longest is about 5 years. There are also many differences between colleges and universities.

Master's degree has different meanings in more than 600 universities in the United States, even in different departments of these universities. In some institutions, students can get this degree after five years in school; In other schools, students must pass the qualification examination, submit papers and choose a foreign language. Sometimes I have completed a degree in a two-year professional course, such as business administration; Or a three-year research course, such as an art major. It can also be a second professional degree, such as pharmacology and architecture.

Some colleges and universities regard the master's degree as a research degree, while others regard it as an intermediate step to the doctoral degree, which has the nature of examination. Students often bypass the master's degree and go straight to the doctor's degree. In some universities, especially some famous universities, master's degree is used to comfort those students who are not qualified for doctoral degree.

The definition of professional master's degree is relatively clear, and the major studied is indicated before the name of the degree; Its curriculum is compact, management is strict, and its reputation is high, such as master's degrees in business administration, engineering and fine arts. As the education authorities in many states stipulate that a master's degree is a prerequisite for middle school teachers to teach and be promoted, the relationship between a master's degree and the education major is increasingly close. In recent years, about half of the masters of education are awarded to students majoring in education, and the masters of education are usually masters of education. At present, the number of masters of education in some universities is increasing rapidly. This professional degree is mainly awarded to liberal arts students who are going to engage in secondary vocational education. They don't need to specialize in education or submit papers, but they need to have the practice of teaching in schools. The demand for education has greatly increased the burden of graduate schools in colleges and universities. Low admission standards and shoddy works also appear from time to time, which leads to the decline of the reputation of the whole master's degree.

doctor's degree

Doctoral degree is the highest degree awarded by American universities. In many fields of natural science, social science and humanities, the winner of this degree is called doctor of philosophy, no matter what discipline he specializes in; Doctoral degree of philosophy emphasizes academic research ability, which is different from professional doctoral degree focusing on application field.

Different institutions have different requirements for doctoral degrees, but there are some similarities. First of all, students usually take professional courses for two years, during which they should not only fully understand their majors, but also get in touch with and initially master the methods of academic research; Some institutions require doctoral students to obtain a master's degree in their postgraduate programs, while others allow them to pursue a doctoral degree directly.

In addition to completing all the courses, students studying for doctoral degrees must also master a foreign language as a research tool and reflect the general level of cultural literacy, and must pass a comprehensive examination in a group of professional fields. This group examination or written examination, or oral examination, or both; Students' test scores are reviewed by the professors' committee (or all teachers in the department) to determine whether students have enough conditions to write doctoral thesis; Only after passing this comprehensive examination can students formally obtain the qualification of doctoral candidates, so this examination is also called the qualification examination. After passing the qualification examination, doctoral candidates usually need to submit a report to the professor Committee to obtain the approval of the Committee on the topic selection of doctoral thesis.

The final stage of doctoral study is mainly to write a doctoral thesis. Earlier, the requirement for doctoral thesis was to make great creative contributions to knowledge and professional fields, and now it emphasizes the value of cultivating comprehensive academic research ability; The doctoral thesis may be completed within one year, or it may take several years, depending on the standards of each school, the difficulty of topic selection, the diligence and skills of doctoral candidates and other factors; Many students find full-time jobs after passing the doctoral qualification examination, so the time available for writing doctoral thesis is greatly reduced. American colleges and universities usually stipulate that the period for full-time students to study for doctor of philosophy should not exceed 3-4 years, but in fact it often exceeds this period; Generally speaking, compared with science and engineering, doctoral degrees in social sciences and humanities take a long time, but the success rate is low.

In most colleges and universities, students have to pass a final exam after completing their doctoral thesis and meeting other relevant conditions; This kind of examination is usually an oral examination, and the examination questions are limited to the content of doctoral thesis and related professional fields. Future doctors must publicly defend the value, arguments and basis of their papers. The school has posted this notice of defense throughout the school in advance, and those who are interested can attend. The process of obtaining other doctorates, such as doctor of education or doctor of science, is similar to that of doctor of philosophy.

Postdoctoral/postdoctoral fellow

Postdoctoral positions in the United States are not first-class degrees after doctorates, but supplements to doctorates. It is a transitional position for people who have obtained doctoral degrees to continue their research work in a scientific research institution. Postdoctoral education has no strict teaching structure and form. After completing a stage of research in one place, postdoctoral researchers transfer to a place suitable for their work or continue postdoctoral research in another place without awarding degrees. According to the different professional level, postdoctoral staff are divided into three grades: first, they are junior postdoctoral staff in the first two years after receiving their doctorate; 3-5 years as an intermediate postdoctoral staff; As a senior postdoctoral staff for more than 5 years; Postdoctoral education contributes to personnel training and academic research, and also plays a buffering role, reducing the pressure of finding a formal job after doctoral graduation. At present, postdoctoral education has become an important part of American higher education.

Degrees and professional degrees

Professional degrees in the United States (such as those in the fields of law and medicine) reflect high-level professional standards rather than academic standards; For example, the doctor of medicine is a professional degree, which is awarded to students who meet the requirements of being a doctor, while the doctor of philosophy of medicine is a research degree, which recognizes the comprehensive scientific research ability of the winner; That is to say, the former is qualified to practice medicine and see a doctor, while the latter is qualified for scientific research and teaching.

All courses of a major usually include basic theory and practical application of professional theory. In order to enter a professional college, applicants must complete some undergraduate courses. Medical college usually requires students to complete medical prediction courses focusing on biology and chemistry, law school requires students to have a solid foundation in social science, and engineering college usually requires students to obtain a bachelor's degree in engineering first; The length of specialized courses varies; The cultivation of medical doctor usually needs 3-4 years of undergraduate education and 4 years of medical college professional education; Medical college graduates must practice for one year and pass the license examination before they can practice medicine. If a student wants to become an expert, he needs to practice for a few more years. A bachelor's degree in theology usually requires four years of undergraduate and three years of professional education in a seminary, and a bachelor's degree in law usually requires four years of undergraduate and three years of professional education in a law school. In social work, library science, business administration and other majors, a master's degree has been generally regarded as a sign that meets the professional conditions.