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View Full Version : Is this common phrase correct?


linguogeek
Apr 28, 2007, 12:17 PM
I have often wondered about the ubiquitous phrase "undergraduate degree." To me it seems to be self-contradictory. The Oxford English Dictionary defines an undergraduate as one who has not received his/her first degree. Once one has earned an academic degree, that person is no longer an undergraduate, so how can there be such a thing as an undergraduate degree? I have no problem with the phrase some universities use, "undergraduate degree program," because that is a degree program for undergraduates, but describing the degree in those terms makes no sense to me. Would anyone care to agree or disagree with my assertion?

Bluerose
Apr 28, 2007, 12:20 PM
Doesn't it simply refer to the undergraduate's first degree?

J_9
Apr 28, 2007, 12:25 PM
I am currently in an undergraduate degree program wherein upon graduation I will receive my Associates Degree, which is considered an undergratuate degree. After graduation I will go on to graduate school to receive my Bachelor's then Master's degrees.

ordinaryguy
Apr 28, 2007, 12:32 PM
It's probably like a lot of colloquialisms--not strictly accurate, but commonly used and seldom misunderstood. I suppose "bacalaureate degree" would be more precise.