Undergraduate education

Undergraduate education is an education level taken in order to gain one's first tertiary degree (except for an associate's degree). Hence, in many subjects and many educational systems, undergraduate education is post-secondary education up to the level of a bachelor's degree, such as in the United States, where a university entry level is known as undergraduate while students of higher degrees are known as graduates. In some other educational systems and subjects, undergraduate education is post-secondary education up to the level of a master's degree, for example in some science courses in Britain and some medicine courses in Europe.

Indian system
In India the Graduation system is classified into two Undergraduate (UG) and Postgraduate (PG) Systems. It takes three or four years to complete an "undergraduate" degree. The three-year undergraduate programs are mostly in the fields of arts, commerce, science etc., and the four-year programs are mostly in the fields of technology, engineering, pharmaceutical sciences, agriculture etc. However, for medicine, law and architecture, the period has been five years.

English, Welsh, and Northern Irish system
Students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland may usually enter university from the age of eighteen, often having studied A-levels and thus having had thirteen to fifteen years of schooling. Occasionally students who finish A Level or equivalent qualifications early (after skipping a year in school on the grounds of academic giftedness) may enter below this age but large universities are now setting lower age limits of 16 or 17 after a number of well publicised "child prodigies" were found to be emotionally and mentally unprepared for university life.

Applications for undergraduate courses in UK higher education are made through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS).

For their first degree, most students read for the degree of bachelor, which usually takes three years, however in the sciences and engineering integrated courses covering both undergraduate level and advanced degree level leading to the degree of master, usually taking four years and including a research project or dissertation are popular. Given the integrated nature of these programs someone who gains a master's degree via an integrated program is not admitted to the degree of bachelor.

Master's degrees conferred after an extended programs are not to be conflated with the degree of Master of Arts conferred at Oxbridge and Dublin, which is not a substantive qualification, but reflects the ancient practice of those three universities of promoting Bachelors of Arts to Masters of Arts (and thus full membership of the University) six or seven years after matriculation.

Honours degrees and integrated master's degrees are awarded with 1st, upper 2nd, lower 2nd or 3rd class honours. If a student passes the course but fails to do so sufficiently well for third class honours to be awarded he will be awarded with an ordinary degree. Some graduates write "Hons" after their degree postnominals to show that they have an honours degree rather than an ordinary degree however some consider this to be an affectation.

Many universities offer sandwich courses or an extramural year, which offer work placements for a short period of time in a relevant industry before students complete their studies. Taking a sandwich course may make the course last a year longer than it would otherwise.

Apart from a single private university, Buckingham, all universities with the power to award degrees are heavily state financed however they also rely on tuition fees set by the government at a maximum index-linked level, repayable after graduation contingent on attaining a certain level of income, and with the state paying all fees for students from the poorest backgrounds. UK students are generally entitled to student loans for maintenance with repayment contingent on income. Unlike in other European countries, the British government does not own the universities' assets and university staff are not civil servants. United Kingdom universities are therefore better described as autonomous intellectually independent institutions with public funding, rather than public universities per se. The crown does not control syllabi,with the exception of teacher training. The crown restricts the power to award degree to those with a royal charter, in the case of traditional universities, or authorization from the Secretary of State for Universities, in the case of modern universities. Universities accredited in foreign countries,such as Richmond University are however free to operate.

Scottish system
Students in Scotland usually enter university in the year they turn eighteen (with many still being seventeen upon starting), hence courses take an extra year compared to England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

At the older universities the degree of Master of Arts is conferred in the arts subjects after four years while the newer universities instead conferrer the degree of Bachelor of ArtsThe degree of Master of Arts conferred by the Ancient Scottish Universities is equivalent to the degree of Bachelor of Arts at other universities and does not require the level of study necessitated for the other degrees of master awarded by these universities. The degree instead reflects the ancient traditions of these universities. In the sciences, students usually read for the degree of bachelor, which usually takes four years however as with the rest of the UK integrated master's degrees are popular in science and engineering, although in Scotland they last for five years. Degree classification is as that of the rest of the UK.

Irish system
Ireland's Higher Education system is similar to that of the United Kingdom, reflecting the shared origins of undergraduate education for both countries.

Other European systems
In many other, particularly continental European systems, an "undergraduate" degree in the American sense does not exist. Because students are expected to have received a sound general education at the secondary level, in a school such as a gymnasium or lycee, students in Europe enroll in a specific course of studies they wish to pursue upon entry into a University. In the US, students only specialize in a "major" during the last years of college. Specializing in a field of study upon entry into a university means most students graduate after four to five years of study. The fields available include those only taught as graduate degrees in the US, such as law or medicine.

If there is a separate undergraduate degree, higher degrees (License, Master, Doctor at) can be gained after completing the undergraduate degree. In the traditional German system, there were no undergraduate degrees in some fields, such as engineering: students continued to Master's level education without any administrative breakpoints, and employers would not consider half-finished Master's degrees. In many countries, the English distinction between a bachelor's and master's degree is only now being introduced by the Bologna process. Under the new Bologna reform, universities in Europe are introducing the Bachelor level (BA or BS) degree, often by dividing a 5-year Master-level program into two parts (3-year Bachelor's + 2-year Master's), where students are not obligated to continue with the second Master's-degree part. These new Bachelor's degrees are similar in structure to British Bachelor's degrees.

In the traditional German system, there is a vocational degree (Diploma FH) that is similar in length, and is also considered an academic degree. Though it is designed as a specialist degree, in contrast to the Diplom degree at University, which claims to be more generalist. Germany itself, however, is currently abolishing the legal distinction between Fachhochschule and University. They are both translated as university and they both provide bologna-compliant and equivalent postgraduate degrees.

The undergraduate phase in The Netherlands can be fulfilled either at university or at the University of Applied Sciences. Except for some specific exceptions, only at universities students are able to graduate for their masters or be promoted. These two institutions differ from each other in the level students learn abstract concepts. Whereas theories are created at the university, at the University of Applied Sciences theories are taught to be applied correctly.

Not obligatory but ubiquitously applied at Universities in the Netherlands are the propaedeutic exams. The entire curriculum of the first two semesters of the bachelors programme is part of the propedaeutic exams. In most bachelor's studies, students are required to obtain their propaedeutic certificate within three semesters after starting the course. A propaedeutic certificate also counts as a requirement for participating in a university level bachelor's study. The propaedeutic exams have the purpose of assessing whether a student has the appropriate capacities in order to complete the course.

At some Swedish universities (such as the Royal Institute of Technology), PhD courses are sometimes referred to as "graduate courses", whereas courses for other students (up to master level) sometimes are referred to as "undergraduate courses".

In the French system, the first degree of tertiary education was reached two years after the baccalauréat. Amongst these degrees the university-delivered DEUG has disappeared, whereas Diplôme universitaire de technologie, Brevet de Technicien Supérieur or classe préparatoire aux grandes écoles still exist. According to the Bologna process, these two-years curriculum will be replaced by the three years licence, yet existing.

United States system
In the United States of America undergraduate refers to those who are studying for a bachelor's degree. The most common method consists of four years of study leading to a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), a Bachelor of Science (B.S.), or sometimes another bachelor's degree such as Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.), Bachelor of Social Work (B.S.W.), Bachelor of Engineering (B.Eng.), Bachelor of Science in Public Affairs (B.S.P.A), or Bachelor of Philosophy (B.Phil.) Five-Year Professional Architecture programs offer the Bachelor of Architecture Degree (B.Arch.).

Unlike in the British model, degrees in law and medicine are not offered at the undergraduate level and are completed as graduate study after earning a bachelor's degree. Neither field specifies or prefers any undergraduate major, though medical schools have set prerequisite courses that must be taken before enrollment.

Some students choose to attend a community college for two years prior to further study at another college or university. In most states, community colleges are operated either by a division of the state university or by local special districts subject to guidance from a state agency. Community colleges award associate degrees of different types, some intended to prepare students to transfer to four-year schools (e.g. Associate of Arts (AA), Associate of Science (AS)), and others intended to provide vocational skills and training for students wishing to enter into or advance in a profession. Those seeking to continue their education may transfer to a four-year college or university (after applying through a similar admissions process as those applying directly to the four-year institution, see articulation). Some community colleges have automatic enrollment agreements with a local four-year college, where the community college provides the first two years of study and the university provides the remaining years of study, sometimes all on one campus. The community college awards the associate's degree, and the university awards the bachelor's and master's degrees. However, some community colleges, such as Brazosport College in Lake Jackson, Texas offer bachelor's degrees along with associate's degrees.

Pakistani system
In Pakistan, it generally requires three years to complete a bachelor degree in Arts such as BA, four years in Sciences, Engineering or Business Administration such as BS, BE or BBA and five years for bachelor degrees in Medicine (MBBS), Pharmacy (Pharm D.) and Architecture (B.Arch) after successfully completing 12 years of schooling. In addition to coursework, some degrees necessarily require to complete full-time apprenticeship after formal studies as in case of the MBBS degree which requires 1 year of Residency making the total length of program 6 years.The modern educational system comprises the following five stages: The primary stage lasting five years, applicable to children from 5- to 9-years-old; a middle stage of three years for children 10- to 12-years-old, covering grades six through eight; a two-year secondary, or "matriculation" stage (grades nine and ten), for children 13- and 14-years-old; a two-year higher secondary, or "intermediate college," leading to an F.A. diploma in arts or F.S. in science; and a fifth stage covering college and university programs leading to baccalaureate, professional, and master's and doctorate degrees. The preprimary or preparatory classes, called kachi (literally, unripe) or nursery, were formally integrated into the education system in 1988.

Brazilian system
Brazil follows the major traits of the continental European system; free public schools are available from kindergarten up to postgraduation, both as a right established in Article 6, caput of the Brazilian Constitution and as a duty of the State in Article 208, Items I, IV and V, of the Brazilian Constitution. Students choose their specific course of studies before joining the university. Admission to university is obtained by means of a competitive entrance exam known as Vestibular (a concept somewhat similar to the Baccalauréat in France). There's a new system, adopted by some universities, that uses the high school national examination (ENEM) result as part or a replacement of the Vestibular grade. Depending on the chosen course, upon graduating the student shall be granted: a bachelor's degree's diploma, which usually takes 4 or, in the case of Law, Veterinary, Geology and Engineering, 5 years to complete; or a professional diploma, which normally require 5 or, in the case of medicine, 6 years to complete.

South African system
The South African system usually has a three-year undergraduate Bachelor’s degree, with two or three majors. (There are exceptions, such as the medical qualification (MBChB), which is six years.) A fourth year, known as an Honours year, is considered a post-graduate degree. It is usually course-driven, although may include a project or thesis.

Nigerian system
In Nigeria, undergraduate degrees (excluding Medicine, Medical Laboratory Science, Nursing, Engineering, Law and Architecture) are four-year-based courses. Medicine (MBBS) and Architecture normally take six years to complete studies while Medical Laboratory Science, Nursing, Law and Engineering courses take five years to complete studies, usually, all six years are taken to improve their chances.

Hong Kong system
In Hong Kong, the English system is followed. Students sit for the Certificate of Education examinations at around sixteen years of age, and the Advanced-level, or A-level examinations at around eighteen, then follow by three years of undergraduate education, except for a few specific fields, such as medicine, nursing and law. This is due to be changed, with five-year secondary education and two-year matriculation combined and shortened to six years, and undergraduate education lengthened to four years. Students may be able to receive general education in their first years in universities, more akin to the North American system. The first batch of students under the new system will enter universities in 2012.