What are the different degrees you can earn?

Question

Degrees as in bachelor, master, and doctorate.

Are those all of them? Are there others that you can get? What do each of them signify?

Answer 1

Degrees listed from lowest to highest would be: Certificate, Associates, Bachelors, Masters, and Doctorate.

Now within these are sub-categories. For example, some people get an A.A. degree, which is an Associate of Arts. Others earn their A.A.S. degree, which is an Associates of Arts and Science. So what's the difference? Mostly the number of classes to be taken outside your major field.

For example, I got my B.A. in Economics (a Bachelor of Arts) rather than a B.S. in Economics (a Bachelor of Science) because the B.A. degree allowed me to take more classes outside of business. While both the B.A. and B.S. offered equal training in my major and in business, the B.A. gave me a more opportunity to take classes outside these areas, such as psychology, philosophy, art history, etc. This gave me what I felt would be a more well-rounded education.

Within a doctorate, you can get an Ed.D., which is a Doctor of Education or a Ph.D., which is a Doctor of Philsophy. The difference here is that the Ph.D. requires you to write and defend a thesis, which must be original work. The Ed.D. requires the coursework, but not the writing and defending of a thesis. And for medical doctors, they get an M.D., which is a Doctor of Medicine.

Answer 2

There are many different degrees you can get, but the three you mention are the most common. Typically the degrees break down into smaller sub-categories that are only important if you know the field you want to work in.

If you want to pursue coursework at a community college, you can earn an AA, or AS (called an associate's degree). This is good if you want to assist people in other professions like law and medicine (but not to be confused with an RN --registered nurse--which is typically a four year degree.)

At most colleges and universities, a bachelor's degree can be in the field of science, or arts (--most often). When you complete the degree you earn a BA, or BS (bachelor's of arts, or bachelor's of science). If, for example, you wnt to teach high school English, you should pursue the BA because more of your classes will relate to the discipline. If you think you might want to be an engineer, you'll be working on a BS.

There are other classifications like a BFA, or bachelor's of fine arts. This is a degree in music, creative writing, or the fine arts like sculpture or painting. This is a less common degree, and usually reserved for "performance" fields like music.

At the master's level, there are too many to list, MBA (Master's degree in business), MFA (master's of fine arts), etc. At this level, the degree name is more specific because the course of study is strictly in that field.

Finally, there is the Ph. D., or Doctorate of Philosophy. This is a degree in a very specific area of research. Again, though, there are many variations. Some people pursue the Psy. D. (doctorate of psychology) or DA (doctorate of arts). If you want to become a lawyer you earn a JD (juris doctor), and a REAL doctor earns an MD (medical doctorate).

These are just a few of the degrees you can earn. Frankly, there are probably a thousand or more I could list. Good Luck, and I hope this helps.

Answer 3

>> AA/AS :: Associate's Degree: Associate in Arts/Associate in Science:: 2-year degree, usually granted at a community college.

>> BA/BS/BSed :: Bachelor's Degree: Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science/Bachelor of Science in Education :: 4-year degree, usually granted at a college or university

>> Graduate Certificate in ____ :: A certification that you have studied a certain field :: "Bachelors plus 15," so like a bachelor's degree, plus 15 additional credit hours. This is basically in between a bachelor's and a master's (see http://graduate.missouristate.edu/programs/certificates.htm for graduate certificates offered at my university)

>> MA/MS/MSed/MFA/MBA :: Master's Degree: Master of Arts/Master of Science/Master of Science in Education/Master of Fine Arts/Masters of Business Administration :: 2- to 3-year degrees requiring a bachelor's degree (you essentially go to school for 6 years to earn these degrees).

The MFA is the "terminal degree" (it's the last one you can get, i.e. no PhDs in Art) for the arts (painting, creative writing, etc.).

Earning a master's degree usually requires comprehensive exams (perhaps writing, oral, or both, depending on the university), and some sort of long writing project (for my degree I could write two 25-30 page "degree papers," or one 50-page "thesis").

>> EdS (and others, I'm sure) :: Education Specialist degree :: This can best be described as "Master's plus 15," the "Master's" meaning that the degree at least equal (in credit hours) to a master's degree, and the "plus 15" meaning that it requires 15 more credit hours than a master's degree. (My best friend is getting this degree in the field of psychology. I am sure that are other similar "Master's plus 15" degrees in other fields, although I am not sure of their exact titles.)

>> MD/PhD :: Doctor of Medicine (Latin: Medicinæ Doctor)/Doctor of Philosophy (Latin: Philosophiæ Doctor) :: "terminal degrees" in most fields, this degree is conferred by a university after taking Qualifying Exams (QEs) and writing an intensive research project, called a "doctoral dissertation." This usually takes 4-7 years.

You do NOT have to earn a master's degree before applying to a MD or PhD program.


I have listed them in order of "prestige," from least to greatest; that is, AA/AS is the least prestigious, and the MD or PhD degrees are the most prestigious, hardest degrees to earn. Hopefully they signify increasing salaries as you go from AA/AS to MD/PhD...

Usually, the "of Arts" signifies that the student studied a foreign language, while the "of Science" means that a foreign language was not required for the degree. (This is how it is at my university, so perhaps another answerer from another university can corroborate this statement.)

Answer 4

the main ones are Associates, Bachelor, Minors & Masters, I believe.

But there's 100's of degrees for certain things, such as art, music, etc.