College Degrees - understand degree levels
- Advanced Degree: a degree beyond the associate or bachelor's degree. Most first professional, master's and doctor's degrees are considered advanced degrees
- MBA Degree stands for Masters of Business Administration, and is a post graduate degree in business communication. It is also one of the most sought after degrees in the world because of its value to people in business and administration. A MBA degree can benefit those in positions in management and business especially those in CEO and managerial positions. Businesses run smarter if they educating their employees with MBA degrees. Sole business owners can benefit from gaining a MBA Degree to help their business succeed.
A MBA degree from a leading institution in the United States has great value throughout the world.
College and university.net - Search for MBA degrees and campus and colleges by state
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- Associate Degree: the degree given for finishing a 2 or 3 year program of college work (most often a 2 year program). In some colleges, associate degrees are given for partial completion of work in a bachelor's degree program.
- Bachelor's Degree: the degree given for finishing a college program of at least 4 but not more than 5 years of academic work. Usually this degree is either a B.A. (Bachelor of Arts) or B.S. (Bachelor of Science). There are also a number of specialized bachelor's degrees for certain fields such as B.Arch. (Bachelor of Architecture).
- Certificate: an award for finishing a post-secondary school course or program, usually 1 or 2 years long. It usually certifies competency in a specific job field. Example: Certified Welder.
- Community College: a 2 year college offering courses that are supposed to fit the needs of the local community. Occupational, adult, and general education courses are included along with liberal arts transfer courses. Though the terms 'junior' and 'community' college are often used interchangeably, junior colleges are more often limited to liberal arts transfer courses only.
- Curriculum: a planned sequence of activities that help a student gain special skills or a certain body of knowledge. Most curricula also lead to a degree, diploma, or certificate in the particular field of study.
- Degree: a title given as official recognition for satisfactorily completing a curriculum. This is an 'earned' degree. ('Honorary' or 'unearned' degrees don't count as academic achievement, but rather as a school's recognition of people with special achievement, or who have donated money to the school.)
- Diploma: a document that states a person has satisfactorily completed a curriculum.
- Doctor's Degree (Doctorate): the highest degree in a field of study of progression. The doctor's degree usually requires 3 or more years of work beyond the bachelor's degree and a dissertation (lengthy written work based on original research). Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy) and LL.D.. (Doctor of Laws) are 2 examples of doctor's degrees. Do not confuse this degree with M.D. (Doctor of Medicine), which is a first professional degree in medicine.
- First Professional Degree: requirements have been completed for practicing a profession. A first professional degree requires 5, or more often, 6 years of college work--sometimes 7 or 8. Examples: M.D. (Doctor of Medicine), Pod.D. (Doctor of Podiatry).
- Graduate School: the part of a university that offers programs for advanced degrees.
- Major: a student's main field of study.
- Master's Degree: the degree given for finishing 1 (sometimes 2) years of academic work beyond the bachelor's degree. Some master's degree are M.A. (Master of Arts), M.S. (Master of Sciences), and M.B.A. (Master of Business Administration).
- Undergraduate School: the part of a university offering programs leading to the bachelor's degree.
- University: an institution of post-high school education that has 3 main aims: 1.) teaching graduate and undergraduate programs; 2.) conducting research to find new knowledge and more ways to use old knowledge; 3.) making its findings and teachers available to society. The university grants advanced degrees as well as bachelor's degrees in many fields including liberal arts, sciences, and professions.
- Vocational Counseling: a process of helping an individual understand him/herself and the fullest possible range of career and job choices that can be made available to him/her; of making choices and decisions based on these two basic kinds of understanding; of accepting personal responsibility for the decisions he/she has made; and of formulating plans for carrying out the decisions he has reached.
- Work-study Plan: a combination of classroom study and work experience in an occupation directly related to the classroom study.
