Everything about Licentiate totally explained
» For other degrees, see Academic degree
Licentiate (from Latin
licentia doctorandi = permission/right to teach) is the title of a person who holds an
academic degree called a
license. This degree exists in various
African,
European and
Latin American countries but can represent different educational levels. It usually signifies someone who holds a certificate of competence to practise a profession.
Regional variations
Argentina
In
Argentina, the
licenciatura is a 4-5 year degree, generally equivalent to an
M.Sc. in
North American universities. In some cases it doesn't require the formal writing of a
thesis, although almost invariably a quota of research is required.
Australia
Currently the only institution in
Australia to grant licentiates - apart from theological colleges (see
below) - is the
Australian Music Examinations Board, which confers licentiate diplomas including the
Licentiate in Music, Australia (LMusA).
Belgium
In
Belgian universities, a person titled
Licentiate (or
Licentiaat in
Dutch or
Licencié in
French) holds the equivalent education of a
master's degree.
Students used to receive a license after 4 or 5 years of successful study. The first two years were known as
kandidatuur (
candidacy), meaning students were qualifying themselves for study at the licential level. This
candidate-licentiate system is now being replaced by an American-style
bachelor-master system. The Belgian
licentiate was also equivalent to the
doctorandus in the Netherlands.
Study is very rigorous. Students in Belgian universities usually take more than 30 hours a week (as opposed to an average of 15 at
American universities.) Thus, students are able to complete their (licentiate or master's) degrees in four or five years, as opposed to the usual six at American institutions.
Brazil
In
Brazil, the
licenciate is a 3-4 year degree that qualifies to teach in primary and secondary education.
Canada
While the term
licentiate isn't generally used by Canadian academic institutions, a Licentiate in Laws (LL.L.) is offered by some Canadian universities for the completion of studies equivalent to a
Bachelor of Civil Law.
Costa Rica
This title is awarded to students after 5 years of study, they're required to write a thesis, attend a graduation seminar or develop a project in order to graduate.
Dominican Republic
In
Dominican Republic, a
Licenciatura is awarded to students after 4 years of study, they're required to write a thesis or a monographic in order to graduate. Is one of the major University degree previous to doctoral studies.
France
In
French universities, a licenciate (
licencié(e)) is the holder of a
licence, which is a three-year degree, roughly equivalent to an Anglo-Saxon
bachelor's degree. There are two kinds of licence: general and professional.
Germany
In
Germany, a person titled
Lizentiat holds the equivalent education of a
master's degree or
Diplom. Until the 1990s the degree was offered as a law degree at the University of the Saar as a single university degree (Lic.iur.) with a duration varying between 5 to 8-years. For political reasons this degree was discontinued, mainly because the Staatsexamen (
Law degree) was predominantly representing the mainstream education of a lawyer. The Lizentiat is largely equivalent to the 1. Staatsexamen but unlike the latter is assessed by university, not the state administration. It also allowed specialisation in areas of the law which were either not covered by other legal qualifications, for example ecclesiastical law etc, or not covered to the same extent. Other disciplines such as theology or journalism (FU Berlin) used to offer a
Lizentiat qualification instead of a PhD.
Mexico
Licenciados. Not unlike Argentina's system, it's the de-facto professional qualification on a national level, but it doesn't give the right to practice, some careers like Medicine or Law require pass a national exam before they can practice. Most universities don't require a thesis to graduate, but for a number of years, it was the only method by which one could qualify for their title in the National University (
UNAM); some colleges, such as the
ITESO, replace the thesis with one year of professional practice. Conversions of the title range from being a B.A. to something as advanced as M.S., though most would qualify as a Master's degree in their respective fields (as is the case in the scientific, medical and engineering disciplines). As in Argentina, careers can span 4 to 5 years and usually continue on to a Master's Degree in a more generalized field. Master degrees are subsequently 2 years or less, as are the doctorates (doctorates can also be achieved straight out of the Licentiate, though comprising another 4 or 5 years in this case).
Peru
A
Licenciatura is awarded to students after 5 years of study, they're required to write a thesis or develop a research project in order to graduate.
Poland
A "Licencjat" is a degree introduced in Poland after tertiary education reforms following the fall of Communism to bring the Polish university system roughly into line with European norms. It is typically a 3- or 4-year degree, equivalent to the
Bachelor's degree in Anglo-Saxon countries. Students completing a Licencjat often go on to complete a
Master's degree, previously the first undergraduate degree granted by Polish Universities.
Portugal
In the
Portuguese higher education system, the licentiate's degree (
Licenciatura) is the first
degree awarded by institutions of
higher education. It is the 1st cycle degree used in the
European Higher Education Area, and is equivalent to the
bachelor's degree which is widely used in other regions of the world, like in the
United States.
Due to the new developments introduced by the
Bologna Process in the mid-2000s, the term may still refer to both the old
Licenciaturas which were awarded in Portugal before the "Bologna's reforms" (ranging from 4 to 6-year degrees), or the new
Licenciaturas which have been awarded since then in Portugal and almost all Europe with varying local designations (3 or 4-year degrees) - the 1st study cycle degree.
History
Before the Bologna Process, the
Licenciatura was a single university degree with a duration varying between 4 to 6 years (with or without a final written dissertation, depending on the type of course or department), higher than the polytechnic 3-year Bacharelato degree (now discontinued), but lower than the Portuguese full scientific master's degree (Mestrado Científico). It conferred an automatic licensure for working in a particular profession and a full accreditation by the respective professional orders - ordens profissionais. The Portuguese polytechnic institutions used to award a single 3-year short cycle Bacharelato (lower than a bachelor's degree) degree, an undergraduate degree without neither the Licenciatura's
licensure for working in a particular profession nor an accreditation by the respective professional orders. After
1998, the polytechnic institutions were legally upgraded to award new
Licenciaturas Bietápicas (2-step licenciate's degree) which were a 3-years
Bacharelato plus an additional optative 1 to 2-years cycle conferring a polytechnic
Licenciatura. The
Licenciatura diploma was also required for those applicants who wished to undertake master's and/or doctorate programs but admission were only allowed for
Licenciatura degree owners with final grades over 13.5 (out of 20) - notice that a Portuguese full scientific master's degree (
Mestrado) wasn't required for applicants to a doctorate program if their
Licenciatura's final grade was over 15.5.
Due to
Europe's Bologna Process, since
2006 the new
Licenciatura degrees were organized at both universities and polytechnics - they're now a 1st study cycle (3 to 4 years) offered by any institution of
higher education, and are the only required condition for any applicant who wish to undertake the second study cycle which awards a
master's degree (now mandatory for doctorate programs). The process wasn't a mere formal administrative change because the
curricula and the teaching methods of the new Bologna
Licenciatura and
Mestrado degrees are totally new. Like in the past, not all new "Bologna" licentiate's degrees are accredited by the
ordens in the concerned field (for example, an accredited full chartered engineer must have a recognized diploma from the
Ordem dos Engenheiros in a country where accredited courses in engineering are only about one-third of the total number of engineering courses offered by a large number of institutions).
After the Bologna Process, the
Licenciatura became an
undergraduate academic degree awarded to students by
higher education institutions after a 3 or 4 year 1st cycle of study at a
university,
polytechnical institute or other higher education institution. Some courses (like engineering) are accredited only after the student finishes his second study cycle or a
joint degree which confers the masters' degree (
Mestrado). The first study cycle which confers the
Licenciatura isn't sufficient to be an accredited professional in some fields (for example a professional full chartered engineer, lawyer or architect) in Portugal or in Europe. On the other side, there are not
Licenciatura degrees in fields like medicine because the shortest first study cycle in those fields after "Bologna", is a mandatory 6-year joint degree (
Mestrado Integrado), so these students are awarded not less than a master's degree. In addition, some pharmacy, architecture or even certain engineering degrees offered by a number of universities are also joint degrees.
Spain
In
Spain the
Licenciatura degree is one of the major higher-education degrees previous to doctoral studies. This system will also be progressively changed for the 'Grado' (Bachelor) and 'Master' system due to the Bologna Declaration on the European space for higher education. Nowadays
Licenciatura is consisting of 4 or 5 years (or 6 years in Medicine). Currently,
Licenciatura degrees,
Diplomatura degrees (3 years),
Ingeniería Técnica (
technical engineering) degrees (3 years) and
Ingeniería degrees (4 to 6 years) are the undergraduate diplomas in Spain. Note, however, that the label "undergraduate" here may be misleading to an anglophone audience, since while a Spanish
Diplomatura may be likened to an American undergraduate
bachelor's degree, a Spanish
Licenciatura is comparable in scope to an American postgraduate
master's degree, as the anglophone distinction between "undergraduate" and "postgraduate" degrees (and between "colleges" and "universities") doesn't properly apply to the traditional higher-education system of several European countries such as Spain (modelled after the German system).
After the Bologna process, apparently (because the final decission hasn't yet been taken)
Licenciatura and
Ingeniería degrees will be divided into
Grados (4 years) and
Masters (1 or 2 years) and
Diplomatura and
Ingeniería Técnica will be upgraded to
Grado (1 more year). Most of
Ingeniería técnica and
Ingeniería degrees will be unified because of their similarity. There will be exceptions for
Pharmacy,
Law,
Odontology,
Veterinary,
Medicine,
Architecture degrees. These ones will keep the 5 years (6 years in case of Medicine) in their curricula.
Finland and Sweden
In
Swedish and
Finnish universities, Licentiate's degree equals completion of the coursework required for a doctorate and a dissertation formally equivalent to half of a doctoral dissertation, likened to a
MPhil degree in the British system. Its prerequisite is a completed academic Master's degree. The licentiate is particularly popular with students already involved in the working life, such that completing a full doctor's dissertation while working would be too difficult. The Licentiate's degree is called a
filosofie licentiat in
Swedish and
filosofian lisensiaatti in
Finnish (Licentiate of Philosophy),
teologie licentiat and
teologian lisensiaatti (Licentiate of Theology) etc, depending on the faculty. Furthermore, the requisite degree for a physician's license is
lisensiaatti; there's no Master's degree. (The degree
lääketieteen tohtori "Doctor of Medicine" is a traditional "professors degree", or a research
doctorate, with Licentiate as a prerequisite.)
The Licentiate of Engineering (LicEng) is an intermediate postgraduate degree used only in a few countries, among them Sweden and Finland, and can be seen as an academic step halfway between a Master's and a PhD. In Swedish, it's called
Teknologie Licentiat, usually abbreviated as
Tekn. Lic., and in Finnish,
tekniikan lisensiaatti, or
TkL. The Licentiate of Engineering corresponds to 120 ECTS credits (80 old credits), or nominally two years of full – time work, whereas a PhD amounts to 240 ECTS credits (160 old credits), or a nominal period of four years of full – time work (one credit equals one week of full – time studies). However, as a result of the differences in requirements and individual performance, the time to complete a Licentiate of Engineering degree varies.
The programme for a licentiate degree is equivalent to a total of two years of full-time study for those who are awarded a doctoral position. A person who has a doctoral position normally teaches on the undergraduate programmes, equivalent to a maximum of 20% of the working time. It then ought to be possible for a licentiate degree to be taken within 2.5 years. (see http://www.chalmers.se/en/sections/education/current_students/joint_rules_and_dire/degree_system/licentiate_degree)
Switzerland
In
Switzerland most of the first University degrees are called
licentiate or
licence, but mostly used in its abbreviation
lic. (coming from
Latin licentiatus (m) or
licentiata (f)). It usually requires 4-7 years of study depending on the field of study. The second University degrees are called
DEA or DESS degrees and are equivalent to a Master's degree and they qualify the holder for admission to doctoral studies. The
licentiate will be progressively changed for the 'Bachelor' grade 3-years of study and the 'DEA & DESS' for the 'Master' grade 2-years of study, due to the
Bologna Convention.
Venezuela
A
Licenciatura is awarded to students after 5 years of study, they're required to write a thesis or develop a research project in order to graduate.
India
In India, the Licentiate is a vocational qualification offered by the special vocational boards or professional bodies. These are offered after completion of school education and are somewhat less extensive than a full-fledged university degree. Issuers of the Licentiate degree include Insurance Institute of India, Association of Mutual Funds of India, the Diploma Examination Board of the government of Andhra Pradesh, etc.
Domain variations
Heraldry
In Canada, anyone who complete the Level III Heraldic Proficiency Courses will be granted the right to use the post-nominal of LRHSC (Licentiate of the Royal Heraldry Society of Canada). This is awarded by the
Royal Heraldry Society of Canada.
Medicine, Surgery and Obstetrics
In Great Britain and Ireland, several initial medical qualifications are called licentiates. These include:
Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (LRCPE), awarded by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh
Licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (LRCSE) awarded by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh
Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow (LRCPSG), awarded by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow
These Conjoint diplomas were latterly awarded by the United Examining Board. The first two, and latterly the first three, were granted together in England, and the last three in Scotland, until 1999, after which approval to hold the examinations was withdrawn. The qualifications are still registrable with the General Medical Council, and allow the bearer to practice medicine in the UK, and they used to be recognised by some state medical boards in the USA.
The Licentiate of Apothecaries' Hall was a similar qualifying medical diploma awarded externally in Dublin until recognition was lost in 1968.
In Dublin, students at the School of Medicine of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland still qualify with licentiate diplomas from the two Irish Royal Colleges, coupled with a Licence in Midwifery from each, although in the past few years they've also been awarded the three medical bachelor's degrees of the National University of Ireland:
Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (LRCPI) or (L & LM, RCPI) and
Licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (LRCSI) or (L & LM, RCSI).
Certain maternity hospitals in Dublin used to award a Licentiate in Midwifery or LM diploma, not to midwives but to qualified medical practitioners who had been examined there after a three month residential appointment. The Rotunda Hospital was the most recent to do so.
Theology
The Licentiate of Theology is a sub-degree or diploma- or master's-level qualification offered by a number of educational institutions.
Bologna Convention
In 2003, the European Union organized the Bologna convention on higher education - 'The Bologna process' - in order to create uniform standards across the EU in that field. The resulting conclusions called for all European universities to change their degree programs to an undergraduate degree and a master's degree.
Further Information
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