Credentials Evaluation Service
5-Year Degrees
The 5-Year Degree Debate: Is It a Bachelor or a Master?
This 2020 online survey explores international admissions practices in the US and Canada. The questionnaire focuses on 5-year qualifications, including Bologna Bachelor and Master combinations, long-cycle degrees, and integrated degrees.
IERF Online Survey Results: Evaluating 5-Yr Degrees’20
The following results are from a poll taken on international admissions practices with regard to the review of 5-year degrees. A link to the survey was originally posted on 6 different online communities. While this is not a scientific study, the results reflect the views of 71 admissions officers and evaluation professionals based in the US and Canada. We are grateful to the respondents who participated in this survey.
Where is your office located?
United States (57) Canada (14)
1 What do you regard to be the educational equivalent of a 5-year Licenciatura from Mexico?
Bachelor (62)
Master (3)
Not sure (3)
Other (3)
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
“Other” includes: bachelor’s degree plus 1 additional yr of undergraduate study, bachelor’s degree plus 1 yr of graduate study, first professional degree…
What do you regard to be the educational equivalent of a the 5-year Diploma from a Grande Ecole in France?
Bachelor (13)
Master (33)
Not sure (12)
Other (13)
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
“Other” includes: 2 yrs of undergraduate study, just below a bachelor’s degree, bachelor’s degree plus master’s degree, bachelor’s degree plus graduate credit, bachelor’s degree plus graduate diploma, first professional degree…
2 What do you regard to be the educational equivalent of a 3-year Licence and a 2-year Master from France?
Bachelor only (8)
Bachelor plus Master (53)
Master only (1)
Not sure (5)
Other (4)
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
“Other” includes: bachelor’s degree plus 1 yr of graduate study, it depends…
What do you regard to be the educational equivalent of a 5-year Specialist Diploma from the Russian Federation?
Bachelor (22)
Master (24)
Not sure (7)
Other (18)
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
“Other” includes: grade 12 plus bachelor’s degree (if awarded before 2000), bachelor’s degree plus master’s degree (if awarded after 2000), bachelor’s degree plus graduate study, bachelor’s degree plus postgraduate diploma, first professional degree…
3 What do you regard to be the educational equivalent of a 3-year Bachelor from India?
3 years of university study (42)
Bachelor (14)
Not sure (1)
Other (14)
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
“Other” includes: associate’s degree plus 1 additional yr of study, 3-year bachelor’s degree in Canada, bachelor’s degree if NAAC accreditation-level A and 1st class division…
What do you regard to be the educational equivalent of a 3-year Bachelor and 2-year Master from India?
Bachelor only (19)
Bachelor plus Master (38)
Master only (2)
Not sure (2)
Other (10)
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
“Other” includes: bachelor’s degree only (if in different fields), bachelor’s degree plus master’s degree (if in the same field of study), bachelor’s degree plus 1 yr of graduate study, depends on NAAC accreditation…
4 What do you regard to be the educational equivalent of a 3-year Bachelor from the Czech Republic?
3 years of university study (32)
Bachelor (26)
Not sure (9)
Other (3)
Skipped (1)
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
“Other” includes: 3-yr bachelor’s degree in Canada
What do you regard to be the educational equivalent of a 3-year Bachelor and 2-year Master from the Czech Republic?
Bachelor only (8)
Bachelor plus Master (46)
Master only (4)
Not sure (10)
Other (3)
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
“Other” includes: bachelor’s degree plus 1 yr of graduate study
5 What do you regard to be the educational equivalent of an integrated, long-cycle 5-year Master from the Czech Republic?
Bachelor only (8)
Bachelor plus Master (27)
Master only (10)
Not sure (22)
Other (4)
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
“Other” includes: bachelor’s degree (pre-Bologna), master’s degree (post-Bologna), master’s degree plus graduate diploma, first professional degree (post-Bologna), case-by-case
What do you regard to be the educational equivalent of a Master’s degree from a 4-year integrated program in the United Kingdom?
Bachelor only (21)
Bachelor plus Master (22)
Master only (16)
Not sure (11)
Skipped (1)
0 5 10 15 20 25
International Education Research Foundation
Providing credentials evaluation services since 1969
www.ierf.org
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