Master of Arts (Oxbridge and Dublin) - Rights and Privileges

Rights and Privileges

The degree of Master of Arts traditionally carried various rights and privileges, the chief of which was membership of the legislative bodies of the universities - Convocation at Oxford and the Senate at Cambridge and Dublin. These were originally important decision-making bodies, approving changes to the statutes of the universities and electing various officials, including the two members of Parliament for each university. Inception to the MA degree was the principal way of becoming a member of these bodies, though it is not the only way, e.g. at Oxford Doctors of Divinity, Medicine and Civil Law were always also automatically members of Convocation. Today, the main role of Convocation and Senate is the election of the Chancellor of each university; the Professor of Poetry at Oxford; the High Steward at Cambridge.

The privileges accorded to MAs and other members of Convocation/Senate were formerly very important. At Oxford, until 1998 the Proctors only had the power to discipline "junior members" (those who had not been admitted to membership of Convocation), which meant that any graduate student who had incepted as an MA was immune from their authority. At Cambridge, MAs and those with MA status continue to be exempt from the rules governing the ownership of motor vehicles by students. Other privileges intended for academic staff and alumni, e.g. the right to dine at High Table, to attend Gaudies, to walk upon college lawns, etc., are in most colleges restricted to MAs, which excludes the majority of graduate students.

For Cambridge, membership of the Senate is not limited to the MA any more and in 2000, Oxford opened membership of Convocation to all graduates.

For Dublin, the right to elect senators to the upper house of the irish parliament, Seanad Éireann, is now restricted to those who are Irish citizens and since 1918 the franchise was extended to include all graduates, not only those with an MA.

Thus, the powers, role and significance of the MA degree has been greatly diminished for all three Universities.