What is an Undergraduate (or Undergrad) Degree?

Key Infor­ma­tion:

• Under­grad­u­ate pro­grams include asso­ciate and bachelor’s degrees, each vary­ing in dura­tion and depth of study.
• Earn­ing an under­grad­u­ate degree can sig­nif­i­cant­ly increase life­time earn­ings com­pared to just hav­ing a high school diploma.
• Under­grad degrees help devel­op crit­i­cal skills like com­mu­ni­ca­tion and rea­son­ing, use­ful in many careers.

An under­grad­u­ate degree is an aca­d­e­m­ic pro­gram of study that fol­lows grad­u­a­tion from high school or pass­ing Gen­er­al Edu­ca­tion­al Devel­op­ment (GED) tests. Some­times called first degrees, under­grad­u­ate degrees build upon sec­ondary edu­ca­tion and devel­op greater depth of pro­fes­sion­al knowl­edge. Under­grad pro­grams are con­ferred by high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tions, such as junior col­leges, col­leges, uni­ver­si­ties, and vocational/trade schools. Under­grad­u­ate stud­ies typ­i­cal­ly involve a gen­er­al edu­ca­tion core of sub­jects like Eng­lish, math, and biol­o­gy. How­ev­er, under­grad­u­ate stu­dents can declare a major to empha­size their cur­ricu­lum in one field.

Relat­ed:

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• What Are The Best Eco­nom­ics Schools For Under­grad­u­ate Students?
• Are There Any Accel­er­at­ed Degree Pro­grams For Under­grad­u­ates With­out An Appli­ca­tion Fee?

Types of Undergraduate Degrees

An asso­ciate degree is a two-year pro­gram offered to under­grad­u­ate stu­dents at com­mu­ni­ty col­leges and voca­tion­al schools. Asso­ciate degrees typ­i­cal­ly pro­vide 60 to 70 cred­its of career-focused train­ing. Under­grad­u­ate pro­grams may lead to an Asso­ciate of Arts (A.A.), Asso­ciate of Sci­ence (A.S.), or Asso­ciate of Applied Sci­ence (A.A.S.). Pop­u­lar majors at the asso­ciate lev­el include den­tal hygiene, web design, para­le­gal stud­ies, and infor­ma­tion tech­nol­o­gy. Grad­u­ates with an asso­ciate can pur­sue entry-lev­el, skilled jobs or transfer.

The four-year bach­e­lor’s degree takes stu­dents a step beyond the asso­ciate. Bach­e­lor’s pro­grams are the most com­mon­ly sought after under­grad­u­ate degrees. Under­grads can pur­sue a Bach­e­lor of Arts (B.A.), Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence (B.S.), or Bach­e­lor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.). These pro­grams typ­i­cal­ly range from 120 to 130 cred­its at col­leges and uni­ver­si­ties. Pop­u­lar majors at the bach­e­lor’s lev­el are:

• busi­ness administration
• psy­chol­o­gy
• engi­neer­ing
• com­put­er science
• com­mu­ni­ca­tions

After fin­ish­ing a bach­e­lor’s, indi­vid­u­als can enter pro­fes­sion­al careers or apply to grad­u­ate school.

Undergraduate vs. Graduate Programs

Hav­ing a bach­e­lor’s degree is required for entry into grad­u­ate pro­grams. Grad­u­ate schools award mas­ter’s and doc­tor­al pro­grams, which pre­pare stu­dents for advanced or lead­er­ship posi­tions in com­plex fields. Unlike the more gen­er­al­ized under­grad­u­ate degree, grad­u­ate pro­grams are nar­row­ly spe­cial­ized in one pro­fes­sion. For instance, stu­dents could pur­sue a Mas­ter of Sci­ence in Industrial/Organizational Psy­chol­o­gy or Doc­tor of Phi­los­o­phy in Bio­med­ical Engi­neer­ing. Grad­u­ate pro­grams are typ­i­cal­ly more focused on research and applied prac­tice than class­room instruc­tion. Under­grad­u­ate pro­grams also have con­sid­er­ably larg­er class­es than grad­u­ate seminars.

In post-sec­ondary edu­ca­tion, the course­work in a 4‑year degree pro­gram is at a low­er lev­el than a grad­u­ate degree or doc­tor­al degree pro­gram. There are gen­er­al edu­ca­tion cours­es that all stu­dents have to take at the under­grad­u­ate lev­el before mov­ing on to their major or main field of study. For instance, every­one has a human­i­ties require­ment, whether you’re study­ing social sci­ences or busi­ness. The most com­mon types of degrees are bach­e­lor of arts, bach­e­lor of sci­ence, and bach­e­lor of fine arts. How­ev­er, there are many types of bach­e­lor degree programs.

Of course, how long it will take depends on whether you study full-time or part-time, and whether you already have cred­it hours from asso­ciate degree pro­grams. It may take less time if you can trans­fer cred­its from pre­vi­ous years of study.

Stu­dents inter­est­ed in grad­u­ate stud­ies (also con­fus­ing­ly some­times called post­grad­u­ate) will build on their under­grad­u­ate cours­es and fur­ther specialize.

Benefits of an Undergraduate Degree

Edu­cat­ing your­self beyond a high school diplo­ma is smart for many rea­sons. Invest­ing in col­lege tuition for an under­grad­u­ate degree boosts salary. The U.S. News and World Report sur­vey found that work­ers with a bach­e­lor’s degree made aver­age life­time earn­ings of $2.27 mil­lion. That’s near­ly dou­ble the $1.3 mil­lion for high school grad­u­ates. High­er income results from an under­grad­u­ate degree unlock­ing more career oppor­tu­ni­ties. Bach­e­lor’s degree hold­ers are pre­ferred for job open­ings and pro­mo­tions, which means you’ll be more marketable.

Under­grad­u­ate degrees build crit­i­cal think­ing, rea­son­ing, and com­mu­ni­ca­tion skills that can trans­late into vir­tu­al­ly any field, even out­side your major. Liv­ing on a col­lege cam­pus helps under­grad­u­ates more eas­i­ly mature into adult­hood and find their career foot­ing. Com­plet­ing an asso­ciate or bach­e­lor’s degree takes hard work, so doing so will pro­vide a strong sense of pride. Hav­ing an under­grad­u­ate degree under your belt also opens future doors for attend­ing grad­u­ate, med­ical, or law school.