Analytic Quality Glossary

Analytic Quality Glossary

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Citation reference: Harvey, L., 2004-24, Analytic Quality Glossary, Quality Research International, http://www.qualityresearchinternational.com/glossary/

This is a dynamic glossary and the author would welcome any e-mail suggestions for additions or amendments. Page updated 8 January, 2024 , © Lee Harvey 2004–2024.

Recipes

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Degree

core definition

Degree is the core higher education award, which may be offered at various levels from foundation, through bachelors, masters to doctoral.

explanatory context

The term degree refers both to the award and the educational process leading to the award. In general, having a degree is shorthand for having completed a programme at study that leads to the first level of recognised higher education award in a country. In the UK, for example, that has traditionally been a bachelor degree while in much of Europe it would imply the equivalent of a masters degree. The Bologna Process is harmonising higher education across much of Europe and growing internationalisation will lead to greater clarification of which level of degree has been attained.

analytical review

Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE, 2003) defined a degree course as:

A course of higher education leading to the award of a bachelor's or master's degree.

This was changed by HEFCE (undated) to:

Degree course: A course of higher education leading to the award of a foundation, bachelor's or master's degree.

The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA, undated) in the UK:

Degree: A higher education qualification at one of several levels, determined by the depth and breadth of study and awarded only for achievement in full of the outcomes set out in the appropriate qualification descriptor in the relevant qualifications framework.

Northeast Texas Network Consortium defines degree and degree programme as follows:

Degree: Diploma or title awarded to a student who completed a prescribed course of study.

Degree program: An organized sequence of classes that leads to the awarding of a college degree at the undergraduate or graduate level. (NTNC, 2002)

ICN (2003) defines:

degree program: an organized sequence of classes that leads to the awarding of a college degree at the undergraduate or graduate level.

The site of the Common Data Set of U.S. Higher Education Terminology (2010) states:

Degree: An award conferred by a college, university, or other postsecondary education institution as official recognition for the successful completion of a program of studies.

The Graduate Recruitment Bureau (2011) states:

Degree: Qualification awarded after the successful completion of undergraduate study. BA (Bachelor of Arts) for a first degree in Arts and BSc (Bachelor of Science) for a first degree in Science, are the two most common undergraduate degrees. Degrees can be studied as a single subject (single honours), two subjects (joint honours) or two or three subjects (combined honours).

associated issues

related areas