Master's Degree - Comparable European Degrees

Comparable European Degrees

In some European countries, a magister is a first degree and may be considered equivalent to a modern (standardized) master's degree (e.g., the German and Austrian university Diplom/Magister, or the similar 5-year Diploma awarded in several subjects in Greek, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese, and other universities and polytechnics).

• In Denmark the title candidatus or candidata (female) abbreviated cand. is used as a master's equivalent. Upon completion of for instance, an engineral master's degree, a person becomes cand.polyt. (polytechnical). Similar abbreviations, inspired by Latin, applies for a large number of educations, such as sociology (cand.scient.soc), economics (cand.merc., cand.polit. or cand.oecon), law (cand.jur), humanities (cand.mag) etc. A cand. title requires the obtainment of a master's degree. In Finland and Sweden, the title of kand. equates to a bachelor's degree.

• In France, the equivalent of master's degrees is the combination of two individual diplomas the Master 1 (M1) and Master 2 (M2), following the Bologna Process. Depending on the goal of the student (a doctorate or a professional career) the Master 2 can also be called a "Master Recherche" (Research Master) and a "Master Professionnel" (Professional Master) each with different requirements. To obtain a national diploma for the Master 2 requires a minimum of one-year of study after the Master 1 however a Master 2 often requires 2-years depending on the university's unique requirements. This is often the case with the Master Recherche as it requires time to conduct research and write a thesis. A French "Ingénieur diplômé" is also the equivalent of a Master's Degree, provided the diploma is recognised by the Commission des titres d'ingénieur.

• In Italy the Master's degree is equivalent to the 2-year Laurea Specialistica, whose courses start after earning the 3-year Laurea Triennale (roughly equivalent to a Bachelor's degree). Law, Pharmacy and Medicine faculties have not adopted these two degrees (commonly called "tre più due", i.e. 3+2) and are still earned after 5-year and 6-year Laurea Magistrale courses respectively. Additionally, old regulation (Vecchio Ordinamento) 4-year or 5-year degrees are equivalent to current Laurea Magistrale, thence Master's degree is equivalent to old regulament 4-year or 5-year degree as well.

• In the Netherlands the titles ingenieur (ir.), meester (mr.) and doctorandus (drs.) may be rendered, if obtained in the Netherlands from a university, after the application of the Bologna process, as: M.Sc. instead of ir., LL.M. instead of mr. and M.A. or M.Sc. instead of drs. This is because a single program that led to these degree was in effect before 2002, which comprised the same course load as the Bachelor and Master programs put together. Those who had already started the program could, upon completing it, bear the appropriate title (M.Sc., LL.M. or M.A.), but alternatively still use the old-style title (ir., mr. or drs.), corresponding to their field of study. Since these graduates do not have a separate Bachelor’s degree (which is in fact – in retrospect – incorporated into the program), the Master’s degree is their first academic degree. Bearers of foreign Master's degree are able to use the titles ir., mr. and drs. only after obtaining a permission to bear such titles from the Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs. Those who received their mr., ir. or drs. title after the application of the Bologna process have the option of signing like A. Jansen, M.A., or A. Jansen, M.Sc., depending on the field in which the degree was obtained, since the ir., mr. and drs. titles are similar to a Master's degree, and the shortcut M.A. or M.Sc. may officially be used in order to render such title as an international title.
• In Switzerland, the old Licence or Diplom (4 to 5 years in duration) or a postgraduate DEA is considered equivalent to the master's degree.

• In Slovenia, all Academic degrees awarded after a minimum of 4 years of university studies and a successful defence of a written thesis are considered equivalent to the master's degree.