Master's degree

An English-language master's degree diploma from India

A master's degree is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. Within the area studied, graduates are posited to possess advanced knowledge of a specialized body of theoretical and applied topics; high order skills in analysis, critical evaluation or professional application; and the ability to solve complex problems and think rigorously and independently. The degree is awarded upon graduation from a university.

Structure

Further information: Master's degree in North America, Master's degree in Europe, and Master's degree non-Euroamerican

There are a range of pathways to the degree, with entry based on evidence of a capacity to undertake higher degree studies in the proposed field. A dissertation may or may not be required, depending on the program. In general, the structure and duration of a program of study leading to a master's degree will differ by country and by university.

Duration

In some systems, such as those of the United States and Japan, a master's degree is a strictly postgraduate academic degree. Particularly in the U.S., in some fields/programs, work on a doctorate begins immediately after the bachelor's degree, but the master's may be earned along the way as a 'Master's degree "en route"', following successful completion of coursework and certain examinations. Master's programs are thus one to six years in duration, with two to three years being a common length of time to complete.

Under the Angloamerican systems many master´s degrees are differentiated either as 'Master (Thesis)' or as 'Master (Non-Thesis)' programs. Regardless of a de jure minimum period of a master degree program in the same discipline, the required de facto duration to complete the program may vary highly significant by university. One of the main reasons of this is the fact that the required level of courses or research complexity and quality of a thesis also can vary greatly, e.g. in "very high research activity" elite universities students who are admitted to a "very high research" Master (Thesis), have to fullfil course and thesis level requirements at a regular PhD level, however.

By contrast, in some cases, such as the Integrated Master's Degree in the UK, the degree is combined with a Bachelor of Science, as a 4-year degree. Unlike a traditional MSc, the fourth year finishes at the same time as undergraduate degrees in the early summer, whereas traditional MSc students typically spend the summer vacation completing a dissertation and finish in September. Examples include MMath (see also Part III of the Mathematical Tripos at Cambridge), MEng and MSci (not to be confused with an MSc).

In the recently standardized European System of higher education (Bologna process), a master degree programme normally carries 90 - 120 ECTS credits, with a minimum requirement of at least 60 ECTS credits at master level (one- or two-year full-time postgraduate program) undertaken after at least three years of undergraduate studies. It provides higher qualification for employment or prepares for doctoral studies. As one ECTS credit is equivalent to 25 hours of study this means that a master's degree programme should include 2250 hours of study. Current U.K. MSc/MA programmes tend to include 1800 hours of study (or 180 UK credits), although many claim to be equivalent to an ECTS accredited master degree.

Admission

In countries in which a master's degree is a postgraduate degree, admission to a master's program normally requires holding a bachelor's degree, and in the United Kingdom, Canada and much of the Commonwealth, an "honours" bachelor degree. In both cases, relevant work experience may qualify a candidate. In some cases the student's bachelor's degree must be in the same subject as the intended master's degree (e.g. a Master of Economics will typically require a bachelor's degree with a major in economics), or in a closely allied, "cognate", discipline (e.g. Applied Mathematics degrees may accept graduates in physics, mathematics or computer science); in others, the subject of the bachelor's degree is unimportant (e.g. MBA) although, often in these cases, undergraduate coursework in specific subjects may be required (e.g. some M.S.F. degrees require credits in calculus for admission, but none in finance or economics); see also under Business education#Postgraduate education. Most competitive programs also have a grade point average (GPA) that the student must have achieved in their undergraduate degree.

Comparable European degrees

In some European countries, a magister is a first degree and may be considered equivalent to a modern (standardized) master's degree (e.g., the German and Austrian university Diplom/Magister, or the similar 5-year Diploma awarded in several subjects in Greek, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese, and other universities and polytechnics).

• In Denmark the title candidatus or candidata (female) abbreviated cand. is used as a master's equivalent. Upon completion of for instance, an engineral master's degree, a person becomes cand.polyt. (polytechnical). Similar abbreviations, inspired by Latin, apply for a large number of educations, such as sociology (cand.scient.soc), economics (cand.merc., cand.polit. or cand.oecon), law (cand.jur), humanities (cand.mag) etc. A cand. title requires the obtainment of a master's degree. In Finland and Sweden, the title of kand. equates to a bachelor's degree.

• In France, the equivalent of master's degrees is the combination of two individual diplomas the Master 1 (M1) and Master 2 (M2), following the Bologna Process. Depending on the goal of the student (a doctorate or a professional career) the Master 2 can also be called a "Master Recherche" (Research Master) and a "Master Professionnel" (Professional Master) each with different requirements. To obtain a national diploma for the Master 2 requires a minimum of one-year of study after the Master 1 however a Master 2 often requires 2-years depending on the university's unique requirements. This is often the case with the Master Recherche as it requires time to conduct research and write a thesis. A French "diplôme d'Ingénieur" is also the equivalent of a Master's Degree, provided the diploma is recognised by the Commission des titres d'ingénieur.

• In Italy the master's degree is equivalent to the two-year Laurea magistrale, which can be earned after a Laurea (a three-year undergraduate degree, equivalent to a bachelor's degree). In particular fields, namely law, pharmacy and medicine, this distinction is not made. University courses are therefore single and last five to six years, after which the Master's degree is awarded (in this case referred to as Laurea magistrale a ciclo unico). The old Laurea degree (Vecchio Ordinamento, Old Regulations), which was the only awarded in Italy before the Bologna process, is equivalent to the current Laurea Magistrale.

• In the Netherlands the titles ingenieur (ir.), meester (mr.) and doctorandus (drs.) may be rendered, if obtained in the Netherlands from a university, after the application of the Bologna process, as: MSc instead of ir., LL.M. instead of mr. and MA or MSc instead of drs. This is because a single program that led to these degree was in effect before 2002, which comprised the same course load as the bachelor and master programs put together. Those who had already started the program could, upon completing it, bear the appropriate title (MSc, LL.M. or MA), but alternatively still use the old-style title (ir., mr. or drs.), corresponding to their field of study. Since these graduates do not have a separate bachelor’s degree (which is in fact – in retrospect – incorporated into the program), the master’s degree is their first academic degree. Bearers of foreign Master's degree are able to use the titles ir., mr. and drs. only after obtaining a permission to bear such titles from the Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs. Those who received their mr., ir. or drs. title after the application of the Bologna process have the option of signing as A. Jansen, MA or A. Jansen, MSc, depending on the field in which the degree was obtained, since the ir., mr. and drs. titles are similar to a Master's degree, and the shortcut MA or MSc may officially be used in order to render such title as an international title.
• In Switzerland, the old Licence or Diplom (4 to 5 years in duration) or a postgraduate DEA is considered equivalent to the master's degree.

• In Slovenia and Croatia, during the pre-Bologna process education, all Academic degrees were awarded after a minimum of four years of university studies and a successful defence of a written thesis are considered equivalent to the master's degree.

• In Baltic countries there is a two-year education program that offers a chance to gain a master's degree in interdisciplinary issues. The system offers an education in different areas, such as humanities, environmental and social issues, whilst paying specific consideration to the Baltic Sea area. It is a joint-degree program, which is part of a team effort with four universities. There is the University of Tartu in Estonia, the University of Turku in Finland, Vytautas Magnus University in Lithuania and the University of Latvia. The educational programs are very good; allowing students to be mobile within the system, for example one semester may be taken in a confederate school without paying additional membership or tuition fees. Subsequently after passing the qualifications provided, people may procure teaching qualifications and continue their scholastic research around doctoral studies, or carry on studying within their career in the private or public sector. Graduates of the program, within the Baltic Sea area are also given the chance to continue onwards with their studies within the postgraduate system if they have studied the social sciences or humanities field.

• In Greece, the metaptychiako which means post-graduate (degree) and is normally two-year after a four-year undergraduate ptychio which means degree.

See also

• Associate's degree
• Bachelor's degree
• British degree abbreviations
• Degrees of the University of Oxford
• Diploma mill
• Doctorate
• Educational specialist
• Engineer's degree
• Euromaster
• Graduate school
• Licentiate
• List of master's degrees
• Magister (degree)
• Master of Advanced Studies
• Master of Arts (Oxbridge and Dublin)
• Master of Arts (Scotland)
• Master's degree in Europe
• Master's degree non-Euroamerican
• Master's degree in North America
• Master of Laws
• Master of Engineering
• Master of Science
• Professional degree
• Professional Science Master's degree
• Terminal degree