Master of Letters

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The Master of Letters (MLitt from the Latin magister litterarum) is a postgraduate Master's degree which has two main systems of use.

The MLitt (T) is a one-year full-time taught degree at the ancient Scottish universities. Usually, the degree involves nine months of postgraduate-level courses, followed by a short research dissertation written during the summer months. Often the MLitt is awarded here because for the ancient universities the first degree in the Arts and Humanities is an undergraduate MA (Hons), and contrasts with the MPhil degree, a more advanced one-year research Masters.

The older MLitt, now often called the MLitt (R) to differentiate the two, is a research degree lasting two years in many UK universities, including the ancient Scottish Universities who also grant MLitts (T). Students rarely apply for an MLitt in the first instance, but for those who have completed two years of a PhD and do not wish to or cannot continue with the final year(s), they have the option to write up their completed research so far and graduate with an MLitt (R).

The MLitt in non-UK universities around the world is generally of the two-year research variety.

In all cases, the MLitt is usually awarded in Arts, Divinity, Fine Art, Humanities, or Social Sciences.


Academic degrees
Associate's degrees (U.S.) AA, AAS, ABA, ABS, AOS, AS
Foundation degrees (U.K.) FdA, FdEd, FdEng, FdMus, FdBus, FdSc, FdTech
Bachelor's degrees AB or BA, BAccty, BAdm, BAgrEc, BArch, BBA, BBus, BCom or BComm, BCS, BCL, STB, BD, BDent, B.Ed., BEc, BEng or BE, BFA, BHE, BHK, BJ, BLibStud, BMath, BMus,BSN, BPE, BPharm, BS or BSc, BSocSci, BTech, LLA, LLB, MB ChB or MB BS or BM BS or MB BChir or MB BCh BAO, MA (Cantab.), MA (Dubl.), MA (Hons), MA (Oxon.)
Master's degrees MA, Lic Arts, MS or MSc, MSt, MALD, MApol, MPhil, MRes, MFA, MTh, MTS, MDiv, MBA, MPA, MPD, MPS, MProfStuds, MJ, MSW, MPAff, MLIS, MLitt, MPH, MPM, MPP, MPT, MRE, MTheol, LLM, MEng, MSci, MBio, MChem, MPhys, MMath, MMus, MESci, MGeol, MTCM, MSSc, BCL (Oxon), BPhil (Oxon), ThM
Licentiate degrees: LDS, JCL, STL, SSL, LSS
Specialist degrees EdS, SSP, CAS
Engineer's degrees AE, ChE, BE, CE, CE, EE, CpE, ECS, EnvE, MSE, MechE, NavE, NuclE, Ocean E, SysE
First-Professional Degrees AuD, DC, DCM, DDS, DMD, JD, MD (US), ND, OD, DO, PharmD, DP, PodD, DPM, MDiv, MHL, DVM
Doctoral degrees PhD, EdD, DEng, EngD, DBA, DD, JCD, SSD, JUD, DSc, DLitt, DA, MD, DMA, DMus, DCL, ThD, DrPH, DPT, DPhil, PsyD, DSW, LLD, LHD, JSD, SJD, STD