Types Of Degrees In Education
Have you just finished high school and are trying to figure out what you are going to do in an academic level from this point on? Or are you having your middle-life crisis thinking that you need to expand your knowledge and pursue the degree that you never pursued after your prom? Whatever the case, what you need to do first, is to become informed of the several types of degrees in education, and then decide what suits you best.
If you are looking for a program that can offer you some new skills without consuming too much of your time, then you should be looking for those types of degrees in education that are relatively quick, such as various certificates, certifications, and diplomas. The good thing is that such a degree takes somewhere between a month and a year to complete and it can help you find a job in the respective field relatively fast. The drawback, of course, is that it does not provide an in-depth analysis, but rather with basic knowledge of a subject. Typical examples of such types of degrees in education are nursing diplomas and paralegal certifications.
The next option in the world of academia is studying at the undergraduate level. The types of degrees in education available in the undergraduate level are associate’s and bachelor’s degrees. Depending on the subject that you choose to study, your degree will be characterized either as a degree in Arts, or one in Science. For example, a bachelor’s in philosophy would be considered a bachelor of arts, while one in math would be a bachelor of science; both, however, typically last 4 years. The same distinction applies to the associate’s degrees also, the only difference being that an associate’s does not have the same value as the bachelor’s degree, since the duration of such programs is no more than 2 years.
The advanced types of degrees in education are Master’s and Doctorate degrees. You need to take one step at a time though. Once you finish your undergraduate studies, you can move on to the master’s level. Again you can opt either for an MA (Master of Arts) or an MS (Master of Science). Once you acquire a Master’s degree (which will take you somewhere between 1 and 2 years) you shall become more specialized in your field of studies and it will certainly open more doors for you professionally. As for the PhD (Doctorate of Philosophy) level, you have again two options: you can either choose a research doctorate, which involves academic research in your area of expertise (not just specialization), publishing works or findings, and most of the times teaching at a university level; or you can choose a professional doctoral degree. Typical examples of such types of degrees in education are degrees in medicine and law.
Recent developments in communication technologies have also affected the academic community in a way that most agree is positive. The expansion of the internet, which has brought about an uncontrollable flow of information with just a few click, gives you the opportunity to pursue many types of degrees in education online; however, skeptics are right to point out that when choosing an online program, you should always be very cautious with the organization that you put your money and your trust in.
