Undergraduate education
In some
educational systems,
undergraduate education is
post-secondary education up to the level of a
Bachelor's degree. Students of higher degrees are known as
postgraduates (or often simply
graduates).
North American system
In the
United States and
Canada, most undergraduate education takes place at four-year
colleges or
universities. In the United States, students in their first, second, third, and fourth years of study are often called, respectively, freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors (although some institutions, such as many
women's colleges, substitute "first-year" for "freshman" in an attempt to remain more
gender-neutral). Some institutions (e.g.
liberal-arts colleges) offer primarily or exclusively undergraduate education, while most universities offer graduate study as well. Successful completion of undergraduate work generally requires the completion of many courses of varying subject and difficulty, and a concentration or "
major" that focuses on a particular
academic discipline.
See Also:
Universities in the United StatesBritish system
In the
United Kingdom undergraduate refers to those studying toward a Bachelor's degree which usually takes three or four years. The three year system predominates in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and the four year system in Scotland, although there is some overlap. The old Scottish masters degree after four years undergraduate study is being phased out to avoid confusion with postgraduate masters degrees.
Irish system
In
Ireland the system is similar to that of the United Kingdom, reflecting the shared origins of undergraduate education for both countries. At now the dominant form of the undergraduate degree is in some extent close to the Scottish system with three-year ordinary bachelor degree, four-year honours bachelor degree, one-year (after honous bachelor degree) or two-year (after ordinary bachelor degree) masters degree programmes.
Other European systems
In many other, particularly continental European systems, something like an "undergraduate" degree in the American sense does not exist. Unlike in the US, where students engage in general studies during the first years of tertiary education and only specialize in a "major" during the last years of college, European students enroll in a specific course of studies they wish to pursue right from the beginning, as they are expected to have received a sound general education already in the secondary level, in a school such as a
gymnasium or
lycée. At
university, which they can enter at an age as early as 18 or even 17 in many countries, they specialize in a subject field which they pursue in a curriculum of, in most cases, four or five years of studies. The fields available include those which are only taught as graduate degrees in the US, such as
law or
medicine. After completing the first degree, students can move on to doctoral studies (having sometimes to achieve an intermediate pre-doctoral degree). In many countries, the English distinction between a
bachelor's and
master's degree is only now being introduced by the
Bologna process, meaning that the old first degree would roughly correspond to a master's degree in the US or the UK.
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Undergraduate degree*
Higher education*
Post-secondary education*
Mature student*
Postgraduate education*
Bologna process
