A Master's degree provides a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.[1] Graduates of a Master's degree program possess a range of academic and vocational skills including advanced knowledge of a specialized body of theoretical and applied topics; high order skills in analysis, critical evaluation and/or professional application; and the ability to solve complex problems and think rigorously and independently within the area studied.
The master of arts (magister artium) and master of science (magister scientiæ) degrees are the basic degree types in most subjects, and they may be course-based, research-based, or (more typically) a mixture of the two. A dissertation may or may not be required, depending on the program. There are various degrees of the same level, such as engineer's degrees, which have different names for historical reasons.
There has recently been an increase in programs leading to these degrees in the United States; more than twice as many such degrees are now awarded as compared to the 1970s.[2]
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In some languages, a master's degree is called a magister, which is Latin for master (teacher), and magister or a cognate can also be used for a person who has the degree. Some universities use the Latin degree names, and because of the flexibility of word order in Latin, artium magister (A.M.) or scientiarum magister (S.M.) may be used; Harvard University and the University of Chicago for instance, use A.M. and S.M. for their master's degrees and MIT uses S.M. for its master of science degrees. Master of Science often is abbreviated MS in the US[3] and MSc or M.Sc. in Commonwealth nations and Europe.
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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. The master's is usually offered at a postgraduate level, although is also offered as an undergraduate degree. Some university programmes provide for a joint bachelor's and master's degree after four or five years.
In the USA and Canada, a master's degree entails a one- or two–year program of study in which students would normally enroll after completing a bachelor's degree. In the recently standardized European System of higher education (Bologna process), a master's degree corresponds to a one- or two-year postgraduate program (60 to 120 ECTS credits) undertaken after at least three years of undergraduate studies. It provides higher qualification for employment or prepares for doctoral studies. In general, though, the structure and duration will differ by university:
Admission to a master's program normally requires holding a bachelor's degree (in the United Kingdom an 'honours' bachelor degree), although relevant work experience may qualify a candidate. Progressing to a doctoral program sometimes requires that the candidate first earn a master's degree. In some fields or postgraduate programs, work on a doctorate begins immediately after the bachelor's degree, but the master's may be earned along the way, as a result of the successful completion of coursework and certain examinations. In some cases the student's bachelor's degree must be in the same subject as the intended master's degree, or in a closely allied discipline; in others, the subject of the bachelor's degree is unimportant.
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 university Diplom/Magister, or the similar 5-year diploma awarded in several subjects in Greek, Spanish, Italian, Polish, and other universities and polytechnics).
In the Francophone countries, a DEA is the postgraduate degree and considered equivalent to the master's degree (e.g., in France and the French-speaking Belgium, a DEA is a one- to two-year degree taken after the Licence), after the application of Bologna process, the DEA had been given a new name: MAS (Master of Advanced Studies).
In Switzerland, the old Licence (four to five years in duration) is considered equivalent to the master's degree.[4]
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| Associate's degrees (U.S.) | AA, AAS, ABA, ABS, AOS, AS, AMusA (Australia), ASN |
| Foundation degrees (U.K.) | FdA, FdEd, FdEng, FdMus, FdBus, FdSc, FdTech |
| Bachelor's degrees | AB or BA, BAcy, BAdm, BAgrEc, BArch, BBA, BBus, BCom or BComm, BCS, BCL, STB, BD, BDent, BDS, B.Ed., BEc, BEng or BE, BSBME, BFA, BHSc, BGS,BHE, BHK, BID, BJ, BTh, BLibStud, BLIS, BMath, BMedSc or BMedSci, BMus, BSN, BPE, BPharm, BS or BSc or SB, BSc(Agr) or BSA, BSocSci, BSW, 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 | MArch, MA, MAT, MALS or MLS, MS or MSc, MSt, DEA, MAcy, MALD, MApol, MPhil, MRes, MFA, MTech, MBA, MBI, MBT, MComm, MDes, MTh, MTS, MDiv, MEd, MMT, MPA, MPD, MPS, MSN, MProfStuds, MJ, MST, MSW, MPAff, MLIS, MLitt, MPH, MPM, MPP, MPT, MRE, MTheol/ThM/MTh, STM, LLM, MEng, MSci, MBio, MChem, MPhys, MMath, MMedSc or MMedSci, MMus, MESci, MGeol, MTCM, MSSc, BCL (Oxon), BPhil (Oxon), ThM |
| Licentiate degrees: | Lic Arts, LDS, JCL, STL, SSL, LSS, PhL |
| Specialist degrees | EdS, SSP, CAS |
| Engineer's degrees | AE, BE, BME, CE, CE, ChE, EE, CpE, ECS, EnvE, MSE, ME, NavE, NuclE, Ocean E, SysE, Eng |
| First-professional degrees | AuD, DC, DCM, DDS, DMD, JD, MD (US), DPT, ND, OD, DO (US only), PharmD, DP, PodD, DPM, MDiv, MHL, DVM, PD, STB |
| Doctoral degrees | PhD, DPS, EdD, DEng, EngD, DEnv, DBA, DD, JCD, SSD, JUD, DSc, DLitt, DA, MD (out of US and Canada), DMA, DMus, DCL, ThD, DrPH, DPT, DPhil, PsyD, DSW, JD, LLD, LHD, JSD, SJD, JuDr, STD, DMin |