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| Higher Education |
Higher educationHigher education is education provided by universities and other institutions that award academic degrees, such as community colleges, and liberal arts colleges.
Higher education includes both the teaching and the research activities of universities, and within the realm of teaching, it includes both the undergraduate level (sometimes referred to as tertiary education) and the graduate (or postgraduate) level (sometimes referred to as quaternary education or graduate school). Higher education differs from other forms of post-secondary education such as vocational education. However, most professional education is included within higher education, and many postgraduate qualifications are strongly vocationally or professionally oriented, for example in disciplines such as law and medicine.
In most developed countries a high proportion of the population (up to 50%) now enter higher education at some time in their lives. Higher education is therefore very important to national economies, both as a significant industry in its own right, and as a source of trained and educated personnel for the rest of the economy; it is often argued that in a modern economy the quantity and quality of such human capital is the most important factor underlying economic growth.
Working in higher education
Universities are fairly large employers. Depending on the funding, a university has a teacher per 3-20 students. According to the ideal of research-university, the university teaching staff is actively involved in the research of the institution. In addition, the university usually also has dedicated research staff and a considerable support staff. Typically to work in higher education as a member of the academic faculty, one must first obtain a doctorate in an academic field, although some lower teaching positions require only master's degree. Member of the staff or administration have usually such education that is necessary for the fulfilment of their duties. Typically institutes of the university have some technical support personnel and a secretary. Depending on the organization of the university, the main adminstration is more or less centralized. Typically most of the adminstrative staff works in different adminstrative sections, such as Student Affairs. In addition, there may be central support units, such as a university library which have a dedicated staff.
The professional field involving the collection, analysis, and reporting of higher education data is called institutional research. Professionals of this field can be found, in addition to universities, in e.g. state educational departments.
Further reading
Higher education in the United States
- Davies, Antony and Thomas W. Cline (2005). [http://www.business.duq.edu/faculty/davies/research/roimba.pdf The ROI on the MBA,] BizEd.
- El-Khawas, E. (1996). Campus trends. Washington, DC.: American Council on Education.
- Ewell, P.T. (1999). Assessment of higher education and quality: Promise and politics. In S.J. Messick (Ed.), Assessment in higher education: Issues of access, quality, student development, and public policy. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
- Finn, C. E. (1988, Jul.-Aug.). Judgment time for higher education: In the court of public opinion. Change, 20(4), 34-39.
- Green, Madeleine, F., ed. 1988. Leaders for a New Era: Strategies for Higher Education. New York: Macmillan.
- Snyder, Benson R. (1970). The Hidden Curriculum. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
- Veblen, Thorstein (1918). The Higher Learning in America: A Memorandum on the Conduct of Universities by Businessmen. New York: Huebsch
- Forest, James and Kevin Kinser (2002). Higher Education in the United States: An Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO.
Higher education in Canada
- Bakvis, Herman and David M. Cameron (2000), [http://www.irpp.org/po/archive/po0500.htm#sufa "Post-secondary education and the SUFA"]. IRPP.
External links
- [http://www.study-in-europe.info/ Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges in Europe]
- [http://www.vidyasoochika.co.in VidyaSoochika - Higher Education Opportunities]
- [http://www.higher-ed.org Higher Education Resource Hub]
- [http://www.higher-ed.org/heus Encyclopedia of Higher Education in the United States]
- [http://www.ericdigests.org/2002-3/finance.htm How Minority Students Finance Their Higher Education]
- [http://www.ericdigests.org/2003-3/quality.htm Ensuring Quality and Productivity in Higher Education]
- [http://www.cdtl.nus.edu.sg/success Writings on Higher Education Practice from the National University of Singapore]
- [http://www.ericdigests.org/2003-3/reform.htm Reform Initiatives in Higher Education]
- [http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-9219/higher.htm Budgeting for Higher Education at the State Level: Enigma, Paradox, and Ritual]
- [http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-926/blue.htm Blue Ribbon Commissions and Higher Education]
- [http://www.fullyemployedmba.com/x374.php Part Time MBA - Balancing Life, Work and School - Article]
- [http://www.acenet.edu/ American Council on Education]
- [http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/heri/heri.html Higher Education Research Institute]
- [http://www.ashe.ws/ Association for the Study of Higher Education]
Category:Educational stages
Category:Education
ja:高等教育
University
A university is an institution of higher education and of research, which grants academic degrees. A university provides both tertiary and quaternary education. University is derived from the Latin universitas, meaning corporation (since the first medieval European universities were simply groups of scholars).
medieval European universities]
History
Because of the above definition, the oldest universities in the world were all European, as the awarding of academic degrees was not a custom of older institutions of learning in Asia and Africa. However, institutions of higher learning considerably older than the most ancient European universities existed in countries such as China, Egypt and India.
The Academy, founded in 387 BC by the Greek philosopher Plato in the grove of Academos near Athens, taught its students philosophy, mathematics, and gymnastics, and is sometimes considered a forerunner of modern European universities. Other Greek cities with notable educational institutions include Kos (the home of Hippocrates), which had a medical school, and Rhodes, which had philosophical schools. Another famous classical university was the Museum and Library of Alexandria.
About a thousand years after Plato, institutions bearing a resemblance to the modern university existed in Persia and the Islamic world, notably the Academy of Gundishapur and later also al-Azhar University in Cairo.
In Asia, there were a number of institutions of higher learning that vaguely resembled universities in the Western sense of the word. In general, these are of considerable antiquity, predating western institutions of higher learning by centuries. In China, it's recorded that the education system had been established during the Yu period (2257 BC - 2208 BC) and the imperial central academy was named Shangyang (Shang means higher and Yang means school) at the time. The higher learning institution - imperial central academy, was called Piyong in Zhou Dynasty (1046 BC - 249 BC), Taixue in Han Dynasty (202 - 220) and Guozijian in Sui dynasty. For example, Nanjing University traces its source back to the imperial central academy at Nanking founded in 258 by the Kingdom of Wu. The early Chinese state depended upon literate, educated officials for operation of the empire, and an imperial examination was established in the Sui Dynasty (581 -618) for evaluating and selecting officials from the general populace. The ancient cities of Nalanda, Vikramasila, Kanchipura and Takshasila were greatly reputed centres of learning in the east, with students from all over Asia. In particular, Nalanda was a famous center of Buddhist scholarship, and as such it attracted a vast number of Buddhist scholars from China, central Asia and Southeast Asia.
In the Carolingian period, a famous academy was created by Charlemagne for the purpose of educating the children of aristocrats to help train the professionals needed to run an empire. It was a foreshadow of the rise of the University in the 11th century.
The first European medieval university was the University of Magnaura in Constantinople
(now Istanbul, Turkey), founded in 849 by the emperor Bardas, followed by the University of Salerno (9th century)University of Bologna (1088) in Bologna, Italy, and the University of Paris (c. 1100) in Paris, France. Many of the medieval universities in Western Europe were born under the aegis of the Catholic Church, usually as cathedral schools or by papal bull as Studia Generali. In the early medieval period, most new universities were founded from pre-existing schools, usually when these schools were deemed to have become primarly sites of higher education. Many historians state that universities and cathedral schools were a continuation of the interest in learning promoted by monasteries.
In Europe, young men proceeded to the university when they had completed the study of the trivium–the preparatory arts of grammar, rhetoric, and logic–and the quadrivium: arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. (See degrees of Oxford University for the history of how the trivium and quadrivium developed in relation to degrees, especially in anglophone universities).
Universities are generally established by statute or charter. In the United Kingdom, for instance, a university is instituted by Act of Parliament or Royal Charter; in either case generally with the approval of Privy Council, and only such recognized bodies can award degrees of any kind.
Universities around the world
The funding and organisation of Universities is very different in different countries around the world. In some countries Universities are predominantly funded by the state, while in others funding may come from donors or from fees which students attending the University must pay. In some countries the vast majority of students attend University in their local town, while in other countries Universities attract students from all over the world, and may provide University accommodation for their students.
Universities and student life in different countries
- British universities
- Dutch universities
- French universities
- Irish universities
- Italian universities
- Spanish universities
- US universities
- Egyptian universities
Selective admissions
Unlike community colleges, enrollment at a university is generally not available to all. However, admission systems vary widely around the world, as discussed in the article college admissions.
Colloquial usage
Colloquially, the term university is used around the world for a phase in one's life: "when I was at university…"; in the United States, college is often used: "when I was in college…". See college, §3, for further discussion. In the United Kingdom and Australia "University" is often contracted to simply "Uni".
The usual practice in the United States today is to call an institution made up of several faculties and granting a range of higher degrees a "university" while a smaller institution only granting bachelor's or associate's degrees is called a "college". (See liberal arts colleges, community college). Nevertheless, a few of America's oldest and most prestigious universities, such as Boston College, Dartmouth College and the College of William and Mary, have retained the term "college" in their names for historical reasons though they offer a wide range of higher degrees.
See also
- Corporate universities
- List of colleges and universities
- List of oldest universities in continuous operation
- List of academic disciplines
- Medieval universities, including list of
- Muslim educational institutions
- Private university
- Public university
- School and university in literature
- University ranking
- College applications
- Wikiportal/University
- [http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Wikiversity Wikiversity]
Related terms
: academia - academic rank - academy - admission - alumnus - aula - [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/brain_farm Brain farm ]-Bologna process - business schools - Grandes écoles - campus - college - college and university rankings - dean - degree - diploma - discipline - [http://wiktionary.org/wiki/Dissertation dissertation] - faculty - fraternities and sororities - graduate student - graduation - lecturer - medieval university - medieval university (Asia) - mega university - perpetual student - professor - provost - rector - research - scholar - senioritis - student - tenure - tuition - undergraduate - universal access - university administration
References
- Walter Ruegg (ed), A History of the University in Europe, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (3 vols) ISBN 0521361079 (vol 3 reviewed by Laurence Brockliss in the Times Literary Supplement, no 5332, 10 June 2005, pages 3-4).
Category:Educational stages
ko:대학교
ms:Universiti
ja:大学
simple:University
th:มหาวิทยาลัย
Academic degreeThis article is about academic degrees. For other degrees, see Degree (disambiguation)
A degree is any of a wide range of awards made by institutions of higher education, such as universities, normally as the result of successfully completing a program of study.
History
The first universities were founded in Europe in the 12th and 13th centuries. As with other professions, teaching in universities was only carried out by people who were properly qualified. In the same way that a carpenter would attain the status of master carpenter when fully qualified by his guild, a teacher would become a master when he had been licensed by his profession, the teaching guild.
Candidates who had completed three or four years of study in the prescribed texts of the trivium (grammar, rhetoric and logic), and who had successfully passed examinations held by their masters, would be awarded a bachelor's degree. Thus a degree was only a step on the way to becoming a fully-qualified master – hence the English word graduate, which is based on the Latin gradus ("step").
Today the terms master, doctor and professor signify different levels of academic achievement, but initially they were equivalent terms. The University of Bologna in Italy, regarded as the oldest university in Europe, was the first institution to award the degree of Doctor in Civil Law in the late 12th century; it also awarded similar degrees in other subjects including medicine. Note that medicine is now the only field in which the term doctor is applied to students who have only obtained their first academic qualification.
The University of Paris used the term master for its graduates, a practice adopted by the English universities of Oxford and Cambridge as well as the "ancient" Scottish universities of St Andrew's, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh.
The naming of degrees eventually became linked with the subjects studied. Scholars in the faculties of arts or grammar became known as masters, but those in philosophy, medicine and law were known as doctor. As study in the arts or in grammar was a necessary prerequisite to study in subjects such as philosophy, medicine and law, the degree of doctor assumed a higher status than the master's degree. This led to the modern hierarchy in which the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) is a more advanced degree than the Master of Arts (M.A.). The practice of using the term doctor for all advanced degrees developed within German universities and spread across the academic world.
The French terminology is tied closely to the original meanings of the terms. The baccalauréat (cf. bachelor) is conferred upon French students who have successfully completed their secondary education and admits the student to university. When students graduate from university, they are awarded licence, much as the medieval teaching guilds would have done, and they are qualified to teach in secondary schools or proceed to higher-level studies.
In Europe, degrees are being harmonised through the Bologna process, which is based on the three-level hierarchy of degrees (Bachelor (Licence in France), Master, Doctor). This system is currently in use in the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. This system is gradually replacing the two-stage system now in use in some countries.
Types of academic degrees
Some examples of specific degrees follow each general term. For more information, see the article about the general term.
- Associate's degrees (U.S.): AA, ABS, AS
- Foundation degrees (U.K.): FdA, FdEd, FdEng, FdMus, FdSc, FdTech
- Bachelor's degrees: AB, BA, BComm, BE, BS, BSc, BFA, BCL, LLB, BM, BBA, BChir, BEng, MBChB, SB, BSSc
- Master's degrees: MA, MS, MSc, JD
- , MALD, MApol, MPhil, MRes, MFA, MTh, M.T.S., M.Div., MBA, MPA, MSW, MPAff, MLIS, MLitt, MPM, MPP, MPT, MRE, LLM, MEng, MSci, MChem, MPhys, MMath, MMus, MESci, MGeol, MTCM, MSSc, BCL (Oxon)#, BPhil (Oxon)#.
- Specialist degrees: EdS, B.Acc., C.A.S.,
- Doctorate degrees: PhD, EdD
- , EngD, DNursSci, DBA, DD, DSc, DLitt, DA, DMA, DMus, DCL, ThD, PharmD, DPT, DPhil, DOM, OMD, PsyD, DSW, LL.D, J.S.D. and S.J.D.
- Note: In the U.S., despite its name, the J.D. degree is not a doctoral level degree. It is a first professional degree and does not confer the title of doctor. While normally taken after a bachelors-level degree, neither is the J.D. a masters-level degree. The LL.M., which is earned after the J.D., is a masters-level law degree. The S.J.D. (Doctor of Juridical Science) is considered a doctoral-level degree and is the highest degree one can attain in law. Also, in the U.S., holders of the EdD (doctor of education) are considered "doctorally prepared" only within the field of education (see, for example, [http://www.aacsb.edu/ AACSB] rules for accreditation)[http://www.academicforum.co.uk .]
#Note: Despite their names, the Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) and the Bachelor of Philosophy (BPhil) offered at Oxford University are both advanced master's degrees (in law and philosophy respectively).
In some countries, such as Australia, a diploma is a specific academic award of lower rank than an academic degree. Australia has several different types of diplomas: Diplomas, Advanced Diplomas, Graduate Diplomas and Postgraduate Diplomas. A diploma can also be an additional course taken after a standard bachelor's degree giving specilisation in a particular field. For example, Australian schoolteachers often study a bachelor's degree in Arts or Science (with a significant education component) for the first three years, then in their final year complete a Diploma of Education (DipEd), which qualifies them as school teachers. In Ireland a National Diploma is below the standard of the honours bachelor degree, whilst the Higher Diploma is taken after the bachelor degree.
In Germany, there are several academic degrees. The lowest degree is the Bachelor (equivalent to a English Bachelor (hons.)), the (equivalent) Diplom (FH) or Diplom I. After that follows the Diplom II, Diplom (University), the Magister (in humanities) or the Master. After a Diplom II, Diplom (University), a Magister or a Master students can proceed to a doctorate. The highest academic degree in Germany is the Habilitation.
The situation in Austria is similar to the situation in Germany: The students get a Diploma as well, but they graduate either with a Magister degree or with a Diploma. This depends on the faculty: arts, sciences and fine arts earn a Magister degree, while technical sciences get a Diploma in engineering. So the degree that, for example, an Information Technology student earns is "Diplom-Ingenieur".
See also
- ad eundem degree
- Degrees of Oxford University
- Lambeth degrees
- Education by country
- Higher education
- Honorary degree
- European higher education area
- Lisbon recognition convention
-
ja:学位
Community collegeIn Canada and the United States, a community college, sometimes called a junior college, is an educational institution providing post-secondary education and lower-level tertiary education, granting certificates, diplomas, and associate's degrees. The name derives from the fact that community colleges primarily accept and attract students from the local community, and are often supported by the local community through property taxes.
In the United Kingdom, community college is sometimes used to describe further education colleges that provide part-time adult education.
Enrollment
In North America, community colleges operate under a policy of "open admission". That is, anyone with a high school diploma or GED may attend, regardless of prior academic status or college entrance exam scores.
The "open admission" policy results in a wide range of students attending community college classes. Students range in age from teenagers in high school taking classes under a "concurrent enrollment" policy (which allows both high school and college credits to be earned simultaneously) to working adults taking classes at night to complete a degree or gain additional skills in their field.
Educational Offerings
Community colleges generally offer three levels of study programs.
The first level of study is toward an Associate's degree, in which a student takes necessary courses needed to earn a degree that will allow for workforce entry into jobs requiring some level of college education but not a full four-year degree. The Associate's degree program also allows for students who wish to eventually obtain a bachelor's degree at a four-year college to complete the necessary "core" requirements to attend the college of their choice.
Many community colleges have arrangements with nearby four-year institutions, where a student obtaining an associate's degree in a field will automatically have his/her classes counted toward the bachelor's degree requirement. (For example, a community college associate's degree in hotel and restaurant management, Computers or accounting would count toward the four-year school's core requirement for a Business Administration degree.) Some have gone one step further, having arrangements with a four-year college for the student to obtain the bachelor's degree from the four-year college while taking all the courses via distance learning or other non-traditional modes, on the community college campus, thus limiting the number of trips to the four-year school.
The second level of study is towards certification in an area of vocational training (such as nursing, computer repair, or welding), which require preparation for a state or national examination, or where certification would allow for hiring preference and/or a higher salary upon entering the workforce.
The third level of study offers services of local interest to members of the community, such as job placement, adult continuing-education classes (either for personal achievement or to maintain certification in specialized fields), and developmental classes for children. Some community colleges offer opportunities for students to return and earn a high school diploma or obtain a GED. Community colleges often work with local businesses to develop specialized classes tailored toward the company's needs such as those available at Delaware County Community College (www.dccc.edu).
Advantages of Community Colleges
- Community colleges are geared toward local students and local needs. Students who could not afford campus or off-site housing at a four-year college, or for other reasons cannot relocate, can attend courses while staying in their local community. Also, community colleges can work with local businesses to develop customized training geared toward local needs, whereas a four-year institution generally focuses on state-wide and/or national needs.
- The "open enrollment" policy allows anyone to begin the goal towards future college education. The policy is highly beneficial to students with mediocre academic records in high school (or who dropped out and later obtained a GED), students "maturing" later in life who now see the benefits of college education, or students who could not attend college after high school but now have the chance to do so.
- Tuition and fees are substantially lower than those of a traditional four-year public or private college or university. Students from low-income families, or those having to work to pay for their education, benefit from the reduced costs. Many colleges offer and accept scholarships or educational grants.
- Community colleges have little or no time limits on when classes must be taken or a degree must be earned (many four-year schools, tired of "professional students" taking up limited space, have imposed limits on when a degree can be earned). Students who must hold down full-time employment, and who cannot take a full-term load, are thus not under pressure to complete courses in a limited timeframe.
- Four-year colleges often give priority to students transferring from community colleges, citing their demonstrated preparedness for junior and senior college-level work. Students who may not have been able to attend a particular college after high school (either for academic, financial, and/or personal reasons), may now be able to attend the college of their choice.
- Community college professors are solely dedicated to teaching, and classes are generally small, whereas a four-year college course may be taught to 300 students by a student intern, while the professor is concentrating on research. Many professors have Master's degrees and several hold doctorate degrees.
- Several community colleges have tremendously successful athletic programs, where students have gone on to play for major colleges and/or the professional ranks.
Disadvantages of Community Colleges
- Transferring credits can sometimes be a problem, as each four-year college has its own requirements as to what is and isn't required for enrollment. However, many four-year colleges (usually nearby to the community college) have made arrangements allowing associate degrees to qualify for transfer, and in some cases allowing the student to complete the bachelor's degree via distance learning from the community college campus.
- It is frequent for many courses to be taught by part-time lecturers holding only a basic degree in the field.
- Few community colleges have on-campus housing. This makes it more difficult for students to participate in extra-curricular activities.
- Many community colleges do not offer any athletic programs other than basic physical education classes.
- It is nearly impossible for the holder of a degree conferred by a Community College to compete at the same level with holders of degrees from more prestigious universities. The attendance of a community college is often seen as a stigma, indicating an individual who for some reason was unable to pass muster at a "normal" university. Though individuals holding degrees from community colleges can and often do prove to be very valuable within their communities, they often find themselves at a distinct disadvantage in the professional world or outside of their communities.
Community College Libraries
Community college libraries, also called learning resources centers, have evolved over their existence. These libraries often include traditional library services such as book checkout, online research tools, and research help, but they also have included multimedia technology expertise, video centers, tutor centers and support services. Community college libraries play a significant role in the college curriculum by supporting information literacy across campus. The librarians spend a significant amount of their work week in the classroom teaching students about information, to select research tools, to evaluate search results, and to use their results in papers, speeches, or in other projects. For this reason, community college librarians are considered full faculty members at most institutions. Community college libraries are often at the cutting edge of research services, because they are able to change faster than their larger cousins at major research institutions.
See also
:For a list of North American community colleges, see List of community colleges
- Ontario Colleges
- California Community Colleges system
- Quebec CEGEPs
External links
- [http://www.libraryinstruction.com/lrc.html The Instructional Role of the Two-Year College Learning Resources Center]
- [http://www.ericdigests.org/2003-3/economic.htm The Economic Outcomes of Community College Attendance]
- [http://www.ericdigests.org/2004-1/building.htm Building an Instructional Framework for Effective Community College Developmental Education]
- [http://www.ericdigests.org/1992-5/role.htm The Role of Scholarship in the Community College]
- [http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-9217/college.htm Internationalizing the Community College: Examples of Success]
- [http://www.50states.com/cc/ Community Colleges in the United States]
- [http://suburbdad.blogspot.com Confessions of a Community College Dean (Blog)]
Category:School types
Category:Vocational education
UndergraduateIn some educational systems, an undergraduate is a post-secondary student pursuing a Bachelor's degree. Students of higher degrees are known as postgraduates (or often simply graduates).
In the United States, most undergraduate education takes place at four-year colleges or universities. 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.
In the United Kingdom, undergraduate refers to the first three or four years of study towards a Bachelor's degree.
In many other, particularly continental European systems, something like an "undergraduate" degree in the American sense does not exist. Other than 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 on 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 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, medicine or business administration. After completing the first degree, students can move on to doctoral studies. 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.
See also
- Higher education
- Tertiary education
- Mature student
- Postgraduate
Category:Educational stages
Graduate studentA graduate school or "grad school" (American English), or, in British English a postgraduate school, is a school that awards advanced degrees, with the general requirement that students must have earned an undergraduate (bachelors) degree. Many universities award graduate degrees; a graduate school is not necessarily a separate institution. Graduate schools are also a part of quaternary education, together with postdoctorate research, and a graduate school experience often involves a significant component of original research, including the writing and defense of a thesis or dissertation.
Students who attend graduate schools are called "graduate students" or "grad students" in the US and Canada, and "postgraduate students" or "post-grads" in Britain and other Commonwealth countries.
Degrees awarded by graduate schools include master's degrees, doctorate degrees (Ph.D.s), and other postgraduate qualifications such as a graduate certificates, as well as some professional degrees.
The term "graduate school" does not usually refer to medical school (students are called "medical-" or "med-students") and only occasionally refers to law school or business school.
Although graduate school programs are distinct experiences from undergraduate degree programs, graduate instruction (in Australia, the United States, and other countries) is often offered by some of the same senior faculty and departments as teach undergraduate courses. Unlike in undergraduate programs, though, it is rarer for graduate students to take coursework outside their specific field of study at the Master's level. At the Ph.D. level, though, it is quite common to take courses from a wider range of study, for which some fixed portion of coursework is typically required to be taken from outside one's department and college of the degree-seeking candidate, to broaden the research abilities of the student. Some institutions designate separate graduate versus undergraduate faculty and denote other divisions (often called School of whatever, e.g., diplomacy, etc.)
Admission
Admission to a masters program generally requires a bachelor's degree in a related field, with sufficiently high grades (usually ranging from B+ / 80% average and up, though this requirement may be significantly higher in some faculties), recommendations from professors, and, for some fields, demonstrated ability in at least one foreign language. Some schools require samples of the student's writing as well as a research proposal. At English-speaking universities, applicants from countries where English is not the primary language are required to submit scores from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).
Admission to a doctoral program typically requires a masters degree in a related field, sufficiently high grades, recommendations, samples of writing, and a research proposal. Requirements are often set higher than those for a masters program. In exceptional cases, a student holding an honours BA with sufficiently high grades and proven writing and research abilities may be admitted directly to a Ph.D. program without the requirement to first complete a masters.
Graduate students must usually declare their research goal or submit a research proposal upon entering grad school; in the case of master's degrees, there will be some flexibility (that is, one is not held to one's research proposal, although major changes, for example from premodern to modern history, are discouraged). In the case of Ph.D.s, the research direction is usually known as it will typically follow the direction of the master's research.
Master's degrees can typically be completed in one year but normally take at least two; they may not exceed five years. Doctoral degrees require a minimum of two years but frequently take much longer, not usually exceeding six years.
Funding
Graduate students may take out student loans, but instead they often work as teaching or research assistants. Students normally agree, as a condition of acceptance to a programme, not to devote more than twelve hours per week to work or outside interests.
Funding is available to first-year masters students whose transcripts reflect exceptionally high grades; this funding is normally given in the second year.
Funding for Ph.D. students comes from a variety of sources, and many universities waive tuition fees for doctoral candidates.
Funding is available in the form of bursaries and other awards, both private and public.
Requirements for completion
Both master's and doctoral programs may be done by coursework or research or a combination of the two, depending on the subject and faculty. Most faculties require both, with the emphasis on research, and with coursework being directly related to the field of research.
Masters candidates undertaking research are typically required to complete a thesis comprising some original research and ranging from seventy to two-hundred pages. Some fields may require candidates to study at least one foreign language if they have not already earned sufficient foreign-language credits. Some faculties require candidates to defend their thesis, but many do not. Those that do not often have a requirement of taking two additional courses, minimum, in lieu of preparing a thesis.
Ph.D. candidates undertaking research must typically complete a thesis, or dissertation, consisting of original research representing a significant contribution to their field, and ranging from two-hundred to five-hundred pages. Most Ph.D. candidates will be required to sit comprehensive examinations—examinations testing general knowledge in their field of specialization—in their second or third year as a prerequisite to continuing their studies, and must defend their thesis as a final requirement. Some faculties require candidates to earn sufficient credits in a third or fourth foreign language; for example, most candidates in modern Japanese topics must demonstrate ability in English, Japanese, and Mandarin, while candidates in pre-modern Japanese topics must demonstrate ability in English, Japanese, Classical Chinese, and Classical Japanese.
At English-speaking Canadian universities, both masters and Ph.D. theses may be presented in English or in the language of the subject (German for German literature, for example), but if this is the case an extensive abstract must be also presented in English. In exceptional circumstances, a thesis may be presented in French.
French-speaking universities have varying sets of rules; some will accept students with little knowledge of French if they can communicate with their supervisors (usually in English).
Admission
Admission to do a research degree in the UK typically requires the sponsorship of a professor. It is useful to have a master's degree, but certainly not essential. A good bachelor's degree, however, is required. Usually research students are admitted to do an M.Phil and can later convert to a Ph.D if they progress well.
Admission to do a taught master's degree (based on coursework) depends upon having an undergraduate degree, generally in a related subject.
Funding
It is very difficult to obtain funding for postgraduate study in the UK. There are a few scholarships for master's courses, but these are rare and dependent on the course and class of undergraduate degree obtained. Most master's students are self-funded.
Funding is available for some Ph.D. courses. There is more funding available to those in the sciences than in other disciplines.
For overseas students, most major funding applications are due as early as twelve months or more before the intended graduate course will begin. This funding is also often highly competitive. The most widely available, and thus important, award for overseas students is the Overseas Research Student Award, which pays the difference in university fees between an overseas student and a British or EU resident. However, a student can only apply for the ORS for one university, often before he or she knows whether they have been accepted.
Admission
Admission to graduate school usually requires a bachelor's degree. High grades in one's field of study are important, grades outside the field less so. Good GRE scores and, especially, good letters of recommendation from undergraduate instructors are essential.
Within the sciences and some social sciences, previous research experience may be important; within most humanities disciplines, an example of academic writing normally suffices. Many universities require a personal statement, which may include indications of the intended area(s) of research; how detailed this statement is or whether it is possible to change one's focus of research depends strongly on the discipline and department being applied to.
In some disciplines or universities, graduate applicants may find it best to have at least one recommendation from research work outside of the college where they earned their Bachelor's degree; however, as with previous research experience, this may not be very important in most humanities disciplines.
The most selective schools set minimum GPAs and test scores below which they will not accept any applicants; this reduces the time spent reviewing applications. Some also require professors to act as sponsors. Finally, applicants from non-English speaking countries must take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).
At most institutions, decisions regarding admission are not made by the institution itself but the department for which the applicant will be studying.
Requirements for completion
Graduate students often declare their intended degree (Master's or Doctorate) in their applications. In some cases, master's programs allow successful students to continue toward the doctorate degree. Additionally, students who complete their coursework but not dissertation ("ABD," for "all but dissertation") often receive master's degrees and an additional master's called a Master of Philosophy, or MPhil. The Master's component of a doctorate program often requires one or two years, and some students, because doctoral programs are better-funded, apply for doctoral programs while only intending to attain a Master's degree. This is generally not accepted and, if a student's advisor learns of the student's plans, can result in early termination.
Many graduate programs require students to pass one or several examinations in order to demonstrate their competence as scholars. Comprehensive examinations ("Comps") are often required in the first year of doctoral study, and are designed to test a student's background undergraduate-level knowledge. Students failing after two attempts are usually expelled from the program, often being awarded a master's degree instead of a Ph.D. Some students who fail to perform well are declared "terminal Masters" students and not allowed to progress on to the Ph.D. after finishing & defending their master's thesis. Comprehensive examinations of this type are more common in the sciences and some social sciences, and relatively unknown in most humanities disciplines.
Most graduate students perform teaching duties. Early in the program, they often serve as graders and tutors; as they advance, they can be promoted to Lecturer status, receiving more responsibility and a larger stipend.
Doctoral students generally spend roughly their first two to three years taking course work, and by their second year if not before, begin research. Many master's and all specialist students will perform research culminating in a paper, presentation, and defense of their research. This is called the master's thesis (or, for Educational Specialist students, the specialist paper). Many US master's degree programs, however, do not require a master's thesis, focusing instead primarily on course work.
In the second and third years of study, doctoral programs often require students to pass more examinations. Programs often require a Qualifying Examination ("Quals") or General Examination ("Generals"), testing students' grasp of a broad sample of their discipline, and/or one or several Special Field Examinations ("Specials"), testing students in their narrower selected areas of specialty within the discipline. If these examinations are held orally, they may be known colloquially as "orals". For some social science and many humanities disciplines, where graduate students may or may not have studied the discipline at the undergraduate level, these exams will be the first set, and be based either on graduate coursework or specific preparatory reading (sometimes up to a year's work in reading). In all cases, comprehensive exams are normally both stressful and time consuming, and must be passed to be allowed to proceed on to the thesis. Passing such examinations allows the student to stay, begin doctoral research, and rise to the status of a doctoral candidate, while failing usually results in the student leaving the program or re-taking the test after some time has passed (usually a semester or a year). Some schools have an intermediate category, passing at the Master's level, which allows the student to leave with a Master's without having completed a Master's thesis.
For the next several years the doctoral candidate primarily performs his or her research. Usually this lasts three to eight years, though a rare few finish more quickly and some take substantially longer. In total, the typical doctoral degree takes between 4 and 10 years from entering the program to completion, though this time varies depending upon the department, thesis topic, and many other factors.
For example, astronomy degrees take five to six years on average, but observational astronomy degrees take six to seven due to limiting factors of weather, while theoretical astronomy degrees take five. Though there is substantial variation among universities, departments, and individuals, humanities and social science doctorates on average take somewhat longer to complete than natural science doctorates. These differences are due to the differing nature of research between the humanities and some social sciences and the natural sciences (solitary as opposed to lab or group based), and to the differing expectations of the discipline in coursework, languages and length of thesis. However, time required to complete a doctorate also varies according to the candidate's abilities and choice of research. Some students may also choose to remain in a program if they fail to win an academic position, particularly in disciplines with a tight job market; by remaining a student, they can retain access to libraries and university facilities, while also retaining an academic affiliation, which can be essential for conferences and job-searches.
Traditionally, doctoral programs were only intended to last three to four years and, in some disciplines (primarily the natural sciences), with the economic support of a second-income, a helpful advisor, and a light teaching load, it is possible for the degree to be completed in that amount of time. However, increasingly many disciplines, including most humanities, set their requirements for coursework, languages and the expected extent of thesis research by the assumption that students will take five years minimum or six to seven years on average; competition for jobs within these fields also raises expectations on the length and quality of theses considerably.
In some disciplines doctoral programs can average seven to ten years, with those taking less seen as not doing as full a job as they should have. Archaeology, which requires long periods of research, tends towards this. The increase in length of degree is a matter of great concern for both students and universities, though there is much disagreement on potential solutions to this problem.
Foreign graduate students outnumber American-born students in some US departments, primarily in the natural sciences, and engineering.
Funding
Graduate students who are not independently wealthy live meagerly compared to their peer group, but how meagerly depends greatly on the nature of funding at their university.
At some elite universities with large endowments, there may be a minimum stipend established for all Ph.D. students within their first five years, as well as a tuition waiver. This stipend may consist of a scholarship for one to two years, and then guaranteed TA or RA positions. At many elite universities, these stipends have been increasing, in response both to student pressure and especially to competition among the elite universities for graduate students. Because of this competition, increases tend to be concentrated on the beginning years of the program, not on the relatively poorly funded finishing students.
At most universities, however, the level of available funding is much less and required work greater. Students who are able to attain an RA (research assistant) or TA (teaching assistant) position, at least, may acquire tuition-forgiveness and a stipend that pays for most expenses. Stipends do not usually correlate with local cost of living, so students in expensive locales such as Boston and Berkeley, even funded, almost invariably lose economic ground.
RA positions are more coveted than TA positions because, while teaching is generally considered a distraction from one's work, RAs typically are paid to work on the dissertation they are required to complete anyway. RA positions are more typical of science disciplines; they are relatively uncommon in humanities disciplines, and where they exist, rarely allow the student to work on their own research.
A rare few students can attain outside fellowships such as the National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Physical Sciences Consortium (NPSC). The sciences are funded well enough that most students can attain either outside or institutional funding, but in the humanities, not all do. Some humanities students are forced to borrow money during their coursework, then take full-time jobs while completing their dissertations. Again, funding differs greatly by the wealth of the university; some universities give five years of full funding to all Ph.D. students, though often with a teaching requirement attached; other universities do not. However, because of the teaching requirements, which can be in the research years of the Ph.D., even the most funded of universities often do not have funding for humanities or social science students who need to do research elsewhere, whether in the United States or overseas.
Foreign grads are typically funded the same way as domestic (US) grads, although some funding sources (such as many NSF fellowships) may only be awarded to domestic students. International students often have worse financial difficulties than domestic students. Reasons include high costs to visit their families back home, support of a family not allowed to work due to immigration laws, tuition that is ridiculous by world standards, and large fees: visa fees by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, surveillance fees (such as Student and Exchange Visitor Information Systems, or SEVIS[http://www.cnn.com/2004/EDUCATION/03/21/international.students.ap/index.html]) by Congress and Homeland Security.
In rare cases, graduate students can lose funding and be de facto terminated from the program. Depending on the structure of the department, this can sometimes even happen at the whim of an advisor. This can be devastating, and there have been instances of suicide, or murder of professors or advisors by graduate students who have lost funding and are unable to complete their degrees.
With the recognition of both the lack of funding and the uncertainty of the job market, many academics advise their undergraduate students not to pursue graduate education if they do not have adequate funding. However, even students with generous funding at the beginning of their degree may find themselves struggling to find funding to conduct research away from the university or to finish writing.
Graduate Employee Unions
At many universities some graduate students are employed by their university to teach classes or do research. While all graduate employees are graduate students many graduate students are not employees. MBA students, for example, usually pay tuition and don't have paid teaching or research positions. In many countries graduate employees have collectively organized labor unions in order to bargain a contract with their university. In Canada, for example, almost all graduate employees are members of a CUPE local.
In the United States there are many graduate employee unions at public universities, the Coalition of Graduate Employee Unions lists 25 recognized unions at public universities on its website. Private universities, however, are covered under the National Labor Relations Act rather than state labor laws and until 2001 there were no recognized unions at private universities.
Many graduate students see themselves as akin to junior faculty, but with significantly lower pay. Many graduate students feel that teaching takes time that would better be spent on research, and many point out that there is a vicious circle in the academic labor economy. Institutions that rely on cheap graduate student labor have no need to create expensive professorships, so graduate students who have taught extensively in graduate school can find it immensely difficult to get a teaching job when they have obtained their degree. Many institutions depend heavily on graduate student teaching: [http://www.yaleunions.org/geso/reports/BlackboardBlues.pdf a 2003 report by the Yale graduate student union], for instance, claims that "70% of undergraduate teaching contact hours at Yale are performed by transient teachers: graduate teachers, adjunct instructors, and other teachers not on the tenure track."
The United Auto Workers (under the slogan "Uniting Academic Workers") and the American Federation of Teachers are two of the international unions that often represent graduate employees. Private universities' administrations often oppose their graduate students when they try to form unions, arguing that students should be exempt from labor laws intended for "employees", while the internationals and most graduate students feel all workers have an inalienable right to unionize. This tactic is similar to that used by WAL-MART which considers its employees to be "associates" rather than "employees". In some cases unionization movements have met with enough student opposition to fail. At the schools where graduate employees are unionized, which positions are unionized vary. Sometimes only one set of employees will unionize (e.g. teaching assistants, residential directors); at other times, most or all will. Typically, fellowship recipients, usually not employed by their university, do not participate.
When negotiations fail, graduate employee unions sometimes go on strike. While graduate student unions can use the same types of strikes that other unions do, they have also made use of teach-ins, work-ins, marches, rallies, and grade strikes. In a grade strike, graduate students refuse to grade exams and papers and, if the strike lasts until the end of the academic term, also refuse to turn in final grades. Another form of job action is known as "work-to-rule", in which graduate student instructors work exactly as many hours as they are paid for and no more. Typically, one 3-credit course is considered to take 10 hours per week of work, although many instructors spend more time than this on class meetings, class preparation, office hours, corresponding with students, and especially grading student work.
Graduate employees at New York University are currently on strike, as the NYU administration has refused to re-negotiate a contract with GSOC.
Life after graduate school
Traditionally, successful doctorate candidates in the English-speaking world would proceed to tenure-track faculty positions upon graduation, perhaps after completing a post-doctoral position. Some of the requirements or recommendations for doctoral programs still reflect this tradition (for example, it is recommended that Ph.D. students gain at least some teaching experience—for example, by working as teaching assistants—during their studies).
In recent years, however, merely possessing an advanced degree is no guarantee of getting an academic job. Universities are more reluctant to hire full-time faculty, relying increasingly on part-time teachers who earn less money, have no tenure or job security, and are not eligible for benefits. The term "Publish or perish" refers to the increasing need for faculty to engage in research and publish regularly in order to be considered for tenure-track positions, promotions, salary increases, and so on.
As a result of these issues, many Ph.D.s enter industry—in some fields, more than 50 percent do. Others seek work in academically-related fields, such as Librarianship.
References
- William G. Bowen & Neil L. Rudenstine, In Pursuit of the PhD (Princeton UP, 1992; ISBN 0-691-04294-2). A comprehensive report on graduate education in the US from the 1960s to the 1990s, based on surveys of tens of thousands of graduate students.
See also
- Comprehensive examination
- EURODOC (European Council of Doctoral Candidates and junior researchers)
- Piled Higher and Deeper (widely read graduate school oriented comic stip)
- Thesis
- Thesis defence
External links
- [http://www.AcademicLadder.com Academic Ladder] - An informational site for graduate students and professors climbing the academic ladder.
- [http://www.everythingbio.com/gradschool/index.php EverythingBio] - Search for biology graduate schools, and find out information about different programs before you apply.
- [http://www.edusvcs.com/ FullyEmployedMBA] - Provides comprehensive content and articles on getting your masters degree in business.
- [http://www.petersons.com/ Peterson's Planner] - A very large educational resource website that can be used to find schools, secure funding, and practice for standardized tests.
- [http://www.phinished.org/ Phinished.org] - A discussion & support group for those who cannot seem to finish their theses or dissertations.
- [http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/ Science Careers] - Contains many articles about graduate school life and scientific training, career development, and the science job market.
- [http://www.philosophicalgourmet.com/ The Philosophical Gourmet Report] - Information about graduate programs in philosophy.
Category:Educational stages
Category:School types
ja:大学院生
th:บัณฑิตวิทยาลัย
Graduate schoolA graduate school or "grad school" (American English), or, in British English a postgraduate school, is a school that awards advanced degrees, with the general requirement that students must have earned an undergraduate (bachelors) degree. Many universities award graduate degrees; a graduate school is not necessarily a separate institution. Graduate schools are also a part of quaternary education, together with postdoctorate research, and a graduate school experience often involves a significant component of original research, including the writing and defense of a thesis or dissertation.
Students who attend graduate schools are called "graduate students" or "grad students" in the US and Canada, and "postgraduate students" or "post-grads" in Britain and other Commonwealth countries.
Degrees awarded by graduate schools include master's degrees, doctorate degrees (Ph.D.s), and other postgraduate qualifications such as a graduate certificates, as well as some professional degrees.
The term "graduate school" does not usually refer to medical school (students are called "medical-" or "med-students") and only occasionally refers to law school or business school.
Although graduate school programs are distinct experiences from undergraduate degree programs, graduate instruction (in Australia, the United States, and other countries) is often offered by some of the same senior faculty and departments as teach undergraduate courses. Unlike in undergraduate programs, though, it is rarer for graduate students to take coursework outside their specific field of study at the Master's level. At the Ph.D. level, though, it is quite common to take courses from a wider range of study, for which some fixed portion of coursework is typically required to be taken from outside one's department and college of the degree-seeking candidate, to broaden the research abilities of the student. Some institutions designate separate graduate versus undergraduate faculty and denote other divisions (often called School of whatever, e.g., diplomacy, etc.)
Admission
Admission to a masters program generally requires a bachelor's degree in a related field, with sufficiently high grades (usually ranging from B+ / 80% average and up, though this requirement may be significantly higher in some faculties), recommendations from professors, and, for some fields, demonstrated ability in at least one foreign language. Some schools require samples of the student's writing as well as a research proposal. At English-speaking universities, applicants from countries where English is not the primary language are required to submit scores from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).
Admission to a doctoral program typically requires a masters degree in a related field, sufficiently high grades, recommendations, samples of writing, and a research proposal. Requirements are often set higher than those for a masters program. In exceptional cases, a student holding an honours BA with sufficiently high grades and proven writing and research abilities may be admitted directly to a Ph.D. program without the requirement to first complete a masters.
Graduate students must usually declare their research goal or submit a research proposal upon entering grad school; in the case of master's degrees, there will be some flexibility (that is, one is not held to one's research proposal, although major changes, for example from premodern to modern history, are discouraged). In the case of Ph.D.s, the research direction is usually known as it will typically follow the direction of the master's research.
Master's degrees can typically be completed in one year but normally take at least two; they may not exceed five years. Doctoral degrees require a minimum of two years but frequently take much longer, not usually exceeding six years.
Funding
Graduate students may take out student loans, but instead they often work as teaching or research assistants. Students normally agree, as a condition of acceptance to a programme, not to devote more than twelve hours per week to work or outside interests.
Funding is available to first-year masters students whose transcripts reflect exceptionally high grades; this funding is normally given in the second year.
Funding for Ph.D. students comes from a variety of sources, and many universities waive tuition fees for doctoral candidates.
Funding is available in the form of bursaries and other awards, both private and public.
Requirements for completion
Both master's and doctoral programs may be done by coursework or research or a combination of the two, depending on the subject and faculty. Most faculties require both, with the emphasis on research, and with coursework being directly related to the field of research.
Masters candidates undertaking research are typically required to complete a thesis comprising some original research and ranging from seventy to two-hundred pages. Some fields may require candidates to study at least one foreign language if they have not already earned sufficient foreign-language credits. Some faculties require candidates to defend their thesis, but many do not. Those that do not often have a requirement of taking two additional courses, minimum, in lieu of preparing a thesis.
Ph.D. candidates undertaking research must typically complete a thesis, or dissertation, consisting of original research representing a significant contribution to their field, and ranging from two-hundred to five-hundred pages. Most Ph.D. candidates will be required to sit comprehensive examinations—examinations testing general knowledge in their field of specialization—in their second or third year as a prerequisite to continuing their studies, and must defend their thesis as a final requirement. Some faculties require candidates to earn sufficient credits in a third or fourth foreign language; for example, most candidates in modern Japanese topics must demonstrate ability in English, Japanese, and Mandarin, while candidates in pre-modern Japanese topics must demonstrate ability in English, Japanese, Classical Chinese, and Classical Japanese.
At English-speaking Canadian universities, both masters and Ph.D. theses may be presented in English or in the language of the subject (German for German literature, for example), but if this is the case an extensive abstract must be also presented in English. In exceptional circumstances, a thesis may be presented in French.
French-speaking universities have varying sets of rules; some will accept students with little knowledge of French if they can communicate with their supervisors (usually in English).
Admission
Admission to do a research degree in the UK typically requires the sponsorship of a professor. It is useful to have a master's degree, but certainly not essential. A good bachelor's degree, however, is required. Usually research students are admitted to do an M.Phil and can later convert to a Ph.D if they progress well.
Admission to do a taught master's degree (based on coursework) depends upon having an undergraduate degree, generally in a related subject.
Funding
It is very difficult to obtain funding for postgraduate study in the UK. There are a few scholarships for master's courses, but these are rare and dependent on the course and class of undergraduate degree obtained. Most master's students are self-funded.
Funding is available for some Ph.D. courses. There is more funding available to those in the sciences than in other disciplines.
For overseas students, most major funding applications are due as early as twelve months or more before the intended graduate course will begin. This funding is also often highly competitive. The most widely available, and thus important, award for overseas students is the Overseas Research Student Award, which pays the difference in university fees between an overseas student and a British or EU resident. However, a student can only apply for the ORS for one university, often before he or she knows whether they have been accepted.
Admission
Admission to graduate school usually requires a bachelor's degree. High grades in one's field of study are important, grades outside the field less so. Good GRE scores and, especially, good letters of recommendation from undergraduate instructors are essential.
Within the sciences and some social sciences, previous research experience may be important; within most humanities disciplines, an example of academic writing normally suffices. Many universities require a personal statement, which may include indications of the intended area(s) of research; how detailed this statement is or whether it is possible to change one's focus of research depends strongly on the discipline and department being applied to.
In some disciplines or universities, graduate applicants may find it best to have at least one recommendation from research work outside of the college where they earned their Bachelor's degree; however, as with previous research experience, this may not be very important in most humanities disciplines.
The most selective schools set minimum GPAs and test scores below which they will not accept any applicants; this reduces the time spent reviewing applications. Some also require professors to act as sponsors. Finally, applicants from non-English speaking countries must take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).
At most institutions, decisions regarding admission are not made by the institution itself but the department for which the applicant will be studying.
Requirements for completion
Graduate students often declare their intended degree (Master's or Doctorate) in their applications. In some cases, master's programs allow successful students to continue toward the doctorate degree. Additionally, students who complete their coursework but not dissertation ("ABD," for "all but dissertation") often receive master's degrees and an additional master's called a Master of Philosophy, or MPhil. The Master's component of a doctorate program often requires one or two years, and some students, because doctoral programs are better-funded, apply for doctoral programs while only intending to attain a Master's degree. This is generally not accepted and, if a student's advisor learns of the student's plans, can result in early termination.
Many graduate programs require students to pass one or several examinations in order to demonstrate their competence as scholars. Comprehensive examinations ("Comps") are often required in the first year of doctoral study, and are designed to test a student's background undergraduate-level knowledge. Students failing after two attempts are usually expelled from the program, often being awarded a master's degree instead of a Ph.D. Some students who fail to perform well are declared "terminal Masters" students and not allowed to progress on to the Ph.D. after finishing & defending their master's thesis. Comprehensive examinations of this type are more common in the sciences and some social sciences, and relatively unknown in most humanities disciplines.
Most graduate students perform teaching duties. Early in the program, they often serve as graders and tutors; as they advance, they can be promoted to Lecturer status, receiving more responsibility and a larger stipend.
Doctoral students generally spend roughly their first two to three years taking course work, and by their second year if not before, begin research. Many master's and all specialist students will perform research culminating in a paper, presentation, and defense of their research. This is called the master's thesis (or, for Educational Specialist students, the specialist paper). Many US master's degree programs, however, do not require a master's thesis, focusing instead primarily on course work.
In the second and third years of study, doctoral programs often require students to pass more examinations. Programs often require a Qualifying Examination ("Quals") or General Examination ("Generals"), testing students' grasp of a broad sample of their discipline, and/or one or several Special Field Examinations ("Specials"), testing students in their narrower selected areas of specialty within the discipline. If these examinations are held orally, they may be known colloquially as "orals". For some social science and many humanities disciplines, where graduate students may or may not have studied the discipline at the undergraduate level, these exams will be the first set, and be based either on graduate coursework or specific preparatory reading (sometimes up to a year's work in reading). In all cases, comprehensive exams are normally both stressful and time consuming, and must be passed to be allowed to proceed on to the thesis. Passing such examinations allows the student to stay, begin doctoral research, and rise to the status of a doctoral candidate, while failing usually results in the student leaving the program or re-taking the test after some time has passed (usually a semester or a year). Some schools have an intermediate category, passing at the Master's level, which allows the student to leave with a Master's without having completed a Master's thesis.
For the next several years the doctoral candidate primarily performs his or her research. Usually this lasts three to eight years, though a rare few finish more quickly and some take substantially longer. In total, the typical doctoral degree takes between 4 and 10 years from entering the program to completion, though this time varies depending upon the department, thesis topic, and many other factors.
For example, astronomy degrees take five to six years on average, but observational astronomy degrees take six to seven due to limiting factors of weather, while theoretical astronomy degrees take five. Though there is substantial variation among universities, departments, and individuals, humanities and social science doctorates on average take somewhat longer to complete than natural science doctorates. These differences are due to the differing nature of research between the humanities and some social sciences and the natural sciences (solitary as opposed to lab or group based), and to the differing expectations of the discipline in coursework, languages and length of thesis. However, time required to complete a doctorate also varies according to the candidate's abilities and choice of research. Some students may also choose to remain in a program if they fail to win an academic position, particularly in disciplines with a tight job market; by remaining a student, they can retain access to libraries and university facilities, while also retaining an academic affiliation, which can be essential for conferences and job-searches.
Traditionally, doctoral programs were only intended to last three to four years and, in some disciplines (primarily the natural sciences), with the economic support of a second-income, a helpful advisor, and a light teaching load, it is possible for the degree to be completed in that amount of time. However, increasingly many disciplines, including most humanities, set their requirements for coursework, languages and the expected extent of thesis research by the assumption that students will take five years minimum or six to seven years on average; competition for jobs within these fields also raises expectations on the length and quality of theses considerably.
In some disciplines doctoral programs can average seven to ten years, with those taking less seen as not doing as full a job as they should have. Archaeology, which requires long periods of research, tends towards this. The increase in length of degree is a matter of great concern for both students and universities, though there is much disagreement on potential solutions to this problem.
Foreign graduate students outnumber American-born students in some US departments, primarily in the natural sciences, and engineering.
Funding
Graduate students who are not independently wealthy live meagerly compared to their peer group, but how meagerly depends greatly on the nature of funding at their university.
At some elite universities with large endowments, there may be a minimum stipend established for all Ph.D. students within their first five years, as well as a tuition waiver. This stipend may consist of a scholarship for one to two years, and then guaranteed TA or RA positions. At many elite universities, these stipends have been increasing, in response both to student pressure and especially to competition among the elite universities for graduate students. Because of this competition, increases tend to be concentrated on the beginning years of the program, not on the relatively poorly funded finishing students.
At most universities, however, the level of available funding is much less and required work greater. Students who are able to attain an RA (research assistant) or TA (teaching assistant) position, at least, may acquire tuition-forgiveness and a stipend that pays for most expenses. Stipends do not usually correlate with local cost of living, so students in expensive locales such as Boston and Berkeley, even funded, almost invariably lose economic ground.
RA positions are more coveted than TA positions because, while teaching is generally considered a distraction from one's work, RAs typically are paid to work on the dissertation they are required to complete anyway. RA positions are more typical of science disciplines; they are relatively uncommon in humanities disciplines, and where they exist, rarely allow the student to work on their own research.
A rare few students can attain outside fellowships such as the National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Physical Sciences Consortium (NPSC). The sciences are funded well enough that most students can attain either outside or institutional funding, but in the humanities, not all do. Some humanities students are forced to borrow money during their coursework, then take full-time jobs while completing their dissertations. Again, funding differs greatly by the wealth of the university; some universities give five years of full funding to all Ph.D. students, though often with a teaching requirement attached; other universities do not. However, because of the teaching requirements, which can be in the research years of the Ph.D., even the most funded of universities often do not have funding for humanities or social science students who need to do research elsewhere, whether in the United States or overseas.
Foreign grads are typically funded the same way as domestic (US) grads, although some funding sources (such as many NSF fellowships) may only be awarded to domestic students. International students often have worse financial difficulties than domestic students. Reasons include high costs to visit their families back home, support of a family not allowed to work due to immigration laws, tuition that is ridiculous by world standards, and large fees: visa fees by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, surveillance fees (such as Student and Exchange Visitor Information Systems, or SEVIS[http://www.cnn.com/2004/EDUCATION/03/21/international.students.ap/index.html]) by Congress and Homeland Security.
In rare cases, graduate students can lose funding and be de facto terminated from the program. Depending on the structure of the department, this can sometimes even happen at the whim of an advisor. This can be devastating, and there have been instances of suicide, or murder of professors or advisors by graduate students who have lost funding and are unable to complete their degrees.
With the recognition of both the lack of funding and the uncertainty of the job market, many academics advise their undergraduate students not to pursue graduate education if they do not have adequate funding. However, even students with generous funding at the beginning of their degree may find themselves struggling to find funding to conduct research away from the university or to finish writing.
Graduate Employee Unions
At many universities some graduate students are employed by their university to teach classes or do research. While all graduate employees are graduate students many graduate students are not employees. MBA students, for example, usually pay tuition and don't have paid teaching or research positions. In many countries graduate employees have collectively organized labor unions in order to bargain a contract with their university. In Canada, for example, almost all graduate employees are members of a CUPE local.
In the United States there are many graduate employee unions at public universities, the Coalition of Graduate Employee Unions lists 25 recognized unions at public universities on its website. Private universities, however, are covered under the National Labor Relations Act rather than state labor laws and until 2001 there were no recognized unions at private universities.
Many graduate students see themselves as akin to junior faculty, but with significantly lower pay. Many graduate students feel that teaching takes time that would better be spent on research, and many point out that there is a vicious circle in the academic labor economy. Institutions that rely on cheap graduate student labor have no need to create expensive professorships, so graduate students who have taught extensively in graduate school can find it immensely difficult to get a teaching job when they have obtained their degree. Many institutions depend heavily on graduate student teaching: [http://www.yaleunions.org/geso/reports/BlackboardBlues.pdf a 2003 report by the Yale graduate student union], for instance, claims that "70% of undergraduate teaching contact hours at Yale are performed by transient teachers: graduate teachers, adjunct instructors, and other teachers not on the tenure track."
The United Auto Workers (under the slogan "Uniting Academic Workers") and the American Federation of Teachers are two of the international unions that often represent graduate employees. Private universities' administrations often oppose their graduate students when they try to form unions, arguing that students should be exempt from labor laws intended for "employees", while the internationals and most graduate students feel all workers have an inalienable right to unionize. This tactic is similar to that used by WAL-MART which considers its employees to be "associates" rather than "employees". In some cases unionization movements have met with enough student opposition to fail. At the schools where graduate employees are unionized, which positions are unionized vary. Sometimes only one set of employees will unionize (e.g. teaching assistants, residential directors); at other times, most or all will. Typically, fellowship recipients, usually not employed by their university, do not participate.
When negotiations fail, graduate employee unions sometimes go on strike. While graduate student unions can use the same types of strikes that other unions do, they have also made use of teach-ins, work-ins, marches, rallies, and grade strikes. In a grade strike, graduate students refuse to grade exams and papers and, if the strike lasts until the end of the academic term, also refuse to turn in final grades. Another form of job action is known as "work-to-rule", in which graduate student instructors work exactly as many hours as they are paid for and no more. Typically, one 3-credit course is considered to take 10 hours per week of work, although many instructors spend more time than this on class meetings, class preparation, office hours, corresponding with students, and especially grading student work.
Graduate employees at New York University are currently on strike, as the NYU administration has refused to re-negotiate a contract with GSOC.
Life after graduate school
Traditionally, successful doctorate candidates in the English-speaking world would proceed to tenure-track faculty positions upon graduation, perhaps after completing a post-doctoral position. Some of the requirements or recommendations for doctoral programs still reflect this tradition (for example, it is recommended that Ph.D. students gain at least some teaching experience—for example, by working as teaching assistants—during their studies).
In recent years, however, merely possessing an advanced degree is no guarantee of getting an academic job. Universities are more reluctant to hire full-time faculty, relying increasingly on part-time teachers who earn less money, have no tenure or job security, and are not eligible for benefits. The term "Publish or perish" refers to the increasing need for faculty to engage in research and publish regularly in order to be considered for tenure-track positions, promotions, salary increases, and so on.
As a result of these issues, many Ph.D.s enter industry—in some fields, more than 50 percent do. Others seek work in academically-related fields, such as Librarianship.
References
- William G. Bowen & Neil L. Rudenstine, In Pursuit of the PhD (Princeton UP, 1992; ISBN 0-691-04294-2). A comprehensive report on graduate education in the US from the 1960s to the 1990s, based on surveys of tens of thousands of graduate students.
See also
- Comprehensive examination
- EURODOC (European Council of Doctoral Candidates and junior researchers)
- Piled Higher and Deeper (widely read graduate school oriented comic stip)
- Thesis
- Thesis defence
External links
- [http://www.AcademicLadder.com Academic Ladder] - An informational site for graduate students and professors climbing the academic ladder.
- [http://www.everythingbio.com/gradschool/index.php EverythingBio] - Search for biology graduate schools, and find out information about different programs before you apply.
- [http://www.edusvcs.com/ FullyEmployedMBA] - Provides comprehensive content and articles on getting your masters degree in business.
- [http://www.petersons.com/ Peterson's Planner] - A very large educational resource website that can be used to find schools, secure funding, and practice for standardized tests.
- [http://www.phinished.org/ Phinished.org] - A discussion & support group for those who cannot seem to finish their theses or dissertations.
- [http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/ Science Careers] - Contains many articles about graduate school life and scientific training, career development, and the science job market.
- [http://www.philosophicalgourmet.com/ The Philosophical Gourmet Report] - Information about graduate programs in philosophy.
Category:Educational stages
Category:School types
ja:大学院生
th:บัณฑิตวิทยาลัย
Vocational educationVocational education (or Vocational Education and Training (VET)) prepares learners for careers or professions that are traditionally non-academic and directly related to a trade, occupation or 'vocation' in which the learner participates.
Vocational education is in most cases a form of secondary or post-secondary education. In some cases, vocational education can contribute towards a tertiary education at a university as academic credit however, it is rarely considered in its own form to fall under the traditional definition of a higher education.
Up until the end of the twentieth century, vocational education focused on trades (for example, automobile mechanic or welder), and was therefore associated with the activities of lower social classes. As a consequence, it attracted a level of stigma. Vocational education is related to the age-old apprenticeship system of learning.
However, as the labour market becomes more specialised and economies are demanding more skills, governments and business are increasingly investing in the future of vocational education through publicy funded training organisations and subsidised apprenticeship or traineeship initiatives for businesses. At the post-secondary level vocational education is typically provided by an institute of technology, or by a local community college.
Vocational education has diversified over the last century and now exists in industries such as retail, tourism, IT, funeral services and cosmetics, as well as in the traditional crafts.
VET internationally
The largest and the most unified system of vocational education was created in Soviet Union (see PTU, Tehnikum). But it became less effective with the transition of post-Soviet countries to market economy.
In Australia vocational education and training is post-secondary and provided through the Technical and Further Education system.
Readings
- Achilles, C. M.; Lintz, M.N.; and Wayson, W.W. "Observations on Building Public Confidence in Education." EDUCATIONAL EVALUATION AND POLICY ANALYSIS 11 no. 3 (1989): 275-284.
- Banach, Banach, and Cassidy. THE ABC COMPLETE BOOK OF SCHOOL MARKETING. Ray Township, MI: Author, 1996.
- Brodhead, C. W. "Image 2000: A Vision for Vocational Education." VOCATIONAL EDUCATION JOURNAL 66, no. 1 (January 1991): 22-25.
- Buzzell, C.H. "Let Our Image Reflect Our Pride." VOCATIONAL EDUCATION JOURNAL 62, no. 8 (November-December 1987): 10.
- O'Connor, P.J., and Trussell, S.T. "The Marketing of Vocational Education." VOCATIONAL EDUCATION JOURNAL 62, no. 8 (November-December 1987): 31-32.
- Ries, E. "To 'V' or Not to 'V': for Many the Word 'Vocational' Doesn't Work." TECHNIQUES 72, no. 8 (November-December 1997): 32-36.
- Ries, A., and Trout, J. THE 22 IMMUTABLE LAWS OF MARKETING. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1993.
- Sharpe, D. "Image Control: Teachers and Staff Have the Power to Shape Positive Thinking." VOCATIONAL EDUCATION JOURNAL 68, no. 1 (January 1993): 26-27.
- Shields, C.J. "How to Market Vocational Education." CURRICULUM REVIEW (November 1989): 3-5
- Silberman, H.F. "Improving the Status of High School Vocational Education." EDUCATIONAL HORIZONS 65, no. 1 (Fall 1986): 5-9.
- Tuttle, F.T. "Let's Get Serious about Image-Building." VOCATIONAL EDUCATION JOURNAL 62, no. 8 (November-December 1987): 11.
- "What Do People Think of Us?" TECHNIQUES 72, no. 6 (September 1997): 14-15.
See also
- Home economics
- Finishing school
- Institute of technology
- Technical and Further Education (Australia)
- Training
- IEK: Vocational education schools in Greece.
External links
- [http://www.fact-sheets.com/education/choosing_vocational_school/ Choosing a Career or Vocational School]
ERIC Articles
- [http://www.ericdigests.org/1998-1/learning.htm Constructivism, Workplace Learning, and Vocational Education]
- [http://www.ericdigests.org/2003-3/business.htm The Business of Vocational Education]
- [http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-9213/vocational.htm Employers' Expectations of Vocational Education]
- [http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-925/rate.htm Reducing the Dropout Rate through Career and Vocational Education]
- [http://www.ericdigests.org/1999-2/21st.htm Vocational Education's Image for the 21st Century]
- [http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-9215/vocational.htm Vocational Education Performance Standards]
National and International organisations and agencies
- [http://www.cedefop.eu.int European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP)]
- [http://www.efvet.org European Forum of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (EFVET)]
- [http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=5854&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training]
- [http://www.dfes.gov.uk/index.htm UK Department for Education and Skills]
- [http://www.doleta.gov/atels_bat/ US Dept of Labor of Employment and Training Administration - Office of Apprenticeship Training, Employer and Labor Services (OATELS)]
- [http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/index.html US Dept of Education - Office of Vocational and Adult Education]
- [http://www.policyalmanac.org/economic/job_training.shtml U.S. Job Training and Vocational Education Programs]
- [http://www.ncver.edu.au/publications/957.html Related information] Useful web sites for VET information in Australia and overseas.
Reports
- [http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2000/2000029.pdf Vocational Education in the United States: Toward the Year 2000] US National Center for Education Statistics
Category:School subjects
PostgraduateQuaternary education or postgraduate education is the fourth-stage educational level, and follows the completion of an undergraduate degree at a college or university. Graduate school is an example of quaternary education; some consider masters-level degrees as part of tertiary education; some consider postdoctoral positions to be quaternary education while others consider them to be jobs.
In Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and most countries of continental Europe, this term is normally not used. Postgraduate study is considered part of tertiary education.
See also
- Education by country
- Graduate student
- Higher education
Lists
- Professional Master's degree including a list
- List of colleges and universities by country
Category:Educational stages
Category:Education
Law:This article is about law in society. For other possible meanings, see law (disambiguation).
Law (a loanword from Old Norse lag), in politics and jurisprudence, is a set of rules or norms of conduct which mandate, proscribe or permit specified relationships among people and organizations, provide methods for ensuring the impartial treatment of such people, and provide punishments of/for those who do not follow the established rules of conduct.
Law is typically administered through a system of courts, in which judges hear disputes between parties and apply a set of rules in order to provide an outcome that is just and fair. The manner in which law is administered is known as a legal system, which typically has developed through tradition in each country.
Legal practitioners, most often, must be professionally trained in the law before they are permitted to advocate for a party in a court of law, draft legal documents, or give legal advice.
Legal traditions
There are generally four broad legal traditions that are practiced in the world today.
Civil law
The Civilian system of law is a codified law that sets out a comprehensive system of rules that are applied and interpreted by judges. It is by and large the most commonly practiced system of law in the world, with almost 60 % of the world's population living in a country ruled on the civilian system.
The most important difference to common law is that normally, only legislative enactments are considered to be legally binding, but not precedent cases. However, as a practical matter, courts normally follow their previous decisions. Furthermore, in some civil law systems (e.g. in Germany), the writings of legal scholars have considerable influence on the courts.
In most jurisdictions the core areas of private law are codified in the form of a civil code, but in some, like Scotland it remains uncodified. The civil law system has its origins in Roman law, which was adopted by scholars and courts from the late middle ages onwards. Most modern systems go back to the | | |
