What is Postgraduate Education?

Postgraduate education involves learning and studying for degrees or other qualifications for which a first or Bachelor's degree generally is required, and is normally considered to be part of tertiary or higher education. In North America, this level is generally referred to as graduate school.

The organization and structure of postgraduate education varies in different countries, and also in different institutions within countries. This article sets out the basic types of course and of teaching and examination methods, with some explanation of their history.

In some programs in the traditional German system, there is no legal distinction between "undergraduate" and "postgraduate". In such programs, all education aims towards the Master's degree, whether introductory (Bachelor's level) or advanced (Master's level). The aim of the Bologna process is to abolish this system.

In most countries, the hierarchy of post-graduate degrees is as follows:

1. Master's degrees (Postgraduate)
These are sometimes placed in a further hierarchy, starting with degrees such as the Master of Arts and Master of Science, then Master of Philosophy, and finally Master of Letters (all formerly known in France as DEA or DESS before 2005, and nowadays Masters to.) In many fields such as clinical social work, or library science in North America, a Master's is the terminal degree. In the UK, Master's degrees may be taught or by research: taught Master's include the MSc and MA degrees which last 1 year and are worth 180 CATS credits (equivalent to 90 ECTS European credits), whereas the Master's by research degrees include the MRes (Master of Research) which also lasts 1 year and worths 180 CATS or 90 ECTS credits (the difference compared to the MA/MSc being that the research is much more extensive), and the MPhil (Master of Philosophy) degree which lasts 2 years (and is often granted to failed doctorates).

2. Doctorates (Postgraduate)
These are often further divided into academic and professional doctorates.
An academic doctorate can be awarded as a PhD (Philosophiæ Doctor), or as a DSc (Scientiae Doctor). The scientiae doctor degree can also be awarded in specific fields, such as a Dr.sc.math (Doctor scientiarum mathematicarum, Doctor of Mathematics), Dr.sc.agr. (Doctor scientiarum agrariarum, Doctor of Agricultural science), DBA (Doctorate in Business Administration)etc. In some parts of Europe, doctorates are divided into the PhD or 'junior doctorate', and the 'higher doctorates' such as the DSc, which is generally awarded to highly distinguished professors. A doctorate is the terminal degree in most fields. In the United States, there is little distinction between a PhD and DSc. In the UK, PhD degrees are often equivalent to 540 CATS credits or 270 ECTS European credits, but this is not always the case as the credit structure of doctoral degrees is not officially defined.

In the UK and countries whose education systems were founded on the British model, such as the U.S., the master's degree was for a long time the only postgraduate degree normally awarded, while in most European countries apart from the UK, the master's degree almost disappeared. In the second half of the 19th century, however, U.S. universities began to follow the European model by awarding doctorates, and this practice spread to the UK. Conversely, most European universities now offer master's degrees parallelling or replacing their regular system, so as to offer their students better chances to compete in an international market dominated by the American model.