University Degree

[lirpa11 16]

Hi, just wondering how do you compare your university degree to a USA degree?

I have a bachelors degree from a Perth University. It's a Bachelors of Commerce, majoring in accounting and taxation.

Can you translate them somehow into a USA equivalent? Is it less in the USA (as in, not a bachelors?), or is it the same? Can I pay a prestigious place to accurately convert it somehow? It was a 3 year course.

[Boiler 45,486]

Most US courses are 4 years but effectively they lose a year a school.

Very much depends non what you want to do with it.

[C & A 0]

I think U.S. Bachelor Degrees are equivalent to 4 years.

Edited January 27, 2015 by C & A

[lirpa11 16]

Thanks, I know they are 4 years. The first year is a base year of all subjects, and you go into your chosen subject in the 2, 3, and 4 year.

Does that mean the Australian degrees do not compare? Do I need to undertake the base year when I return the USA?

I am asking because I am applying for jobs, and a lady asked what the equivalent was in the USA, and I have no idea. Surely my Australian degree must mean something over there?

[Boiler 45,486]

I would just say it is the same. You are fortunate that an employer is taking interest without being in country.

[AussieJ1s 0]

Morning Lipra11,

My husband and I are both in the US after just finishing our degrees in Australia. We are basically on graduate visas, so we have asked many questions of the local Americans as to what they think our degrees are.

My husband studied a bachelor of education. It took four years. That seems straightforward but over here you really aren't a teacher without a masters. To understand that you need to understand what a bachelors over here really is.

I studied a bachelor of laws, a graduate diploma in legal practice and am halfway through a master of laws. The first two qualifications are hard to explain to Americans because 1. you need a bachelors to get a law degree (which is a Juris Doctor, and they do exist in Australia) and 2. the GDLegPrac is like a bar exam as we don't have bar exams. Either way, they expect you only want to be an attorney so if you share your qualifications, they will most likely never contact you about jobs you have applied for because they think you will up and leave.

Now, the American bachelors degree in my summation is like an arts degree. You basically pick all the subjects you like and major if you feel like it. So you may have a major in writing that took one semester to get. That leaves a full 3.5 years worth of picking everything else you like.

So if Americans take their education seriously they usually get a masters which is more like our bachelors, with set subjects you don't want to take but have to.

I wouldn't worry about the duration of your degree. In fact, I wouldn't even mention it. I did my law degree and GDLegPrac in 3.5 years which should take 5. But I don't advertise that cause they will just have more questions and more confusion. Just say you have have a bachelors degree, it is leaning towards a masters because you had set subjects and you have basically specialised rather than majored in commerce.

It is my experience you need to break this down into 25 words or less. Don't complicate it, leave to much room for questions. They will honestly be more interested in your visa status than your education another fun issue to overcome.

[faye.hanabi 0]

Morning Lipra11,

My husband and I are both in the US after just finishing our degrees in Australia. We are basically on graduate visas, so we have asked many questions of the local Americans as to what they think our degrees are.

My husband studied a bachelor of education. It took four years. That seems straightforward but over here you really aren't a teacher without a masters. To understand that you need to understand what a bachelors over here really is.

I studied a bachelor of laws, a graduate diploma in legal practice and am halfway through a master of laws. The first two qualifications are hard to explain to Americans because 1. you need a bachelors to get a law degree (which is a Juris Doctor, and they do exist in Australia) and 2. the GDLegPrac is like a bar exam as we don't have bar exams. Either way, they expect you only want to be an attorney so if you share your qualifications, they will most likely never contact you about jobs you have applied for because they think you will up and leave.

Now, the American bachelors degree in my summation is like an arts degree. You basically pick all the subjects you like and major if you feel like it. So you may have a major in writing that took one semester to get. That leaves a full 3.5 years worth of picking everything else you like.

So if Americans take their education seriously they usually get a masters which is more like our bachelors, with set subjects you don't want to take but have to.

I wouldn't worry about the duration of your degree. In fact, I wouldn't even mention it. I did my law degree and GDLegPrac in 3.5 years which should take 5. But I don't advertise that cause they will just have more questions and more confusion. Just say you have have a bachelors degree, it is leaning towards a masters because you had set subjects and you have basically specialised rather than majored in commerce.

It is my experience you need to break this down into 25 words or less. Don't complicate it, leave to much room for questions. They will honestly be more interested in your visa status than your education another fun issue to overcome.

I don't know if this will make things clearer or more confusing. I did my undergrad (B.A.) (4yrs), and I'm doing my masters in Education + certification (2yrs) in the US. For my bachelors my school required 120 credits, 3 credits per class, so about 40 classes. No more than 10 were basic requirements, the rest were for my major (12-15?) and the other credits were for electives but I double majored in something else instead. I also had to write a thesis. Every institution is different on this.

A bachelors degree can be a B.A., B.S. B.F.A, etc in America and is not always, what I assume you meant a Liberal Arts degree (many different subjects, not one specialization) instead of an arts degree (since an arts degree would mean you did a BA or BFA in Fine Arts). Your first year tends to be requirements or you can space them out during your 4 years, and each university has their own basic courses for that. From then on you specialize in your major, which varies from Art, Biology, Physics, Political Science, English, and so on. Most schools require you to complete a good 2 years doing classes based on this major, which builds up from basic courses to higher level ones (some people finish a Bachelors in 3.5 years, others in 5, it really depends on credits earned, but generally in 4), and in some cases you can be Pre-med or Pre-law if you are getting ready to fulfill requirements for those graduate schools.

From what I have gathered from my fiance, his university degree in Australia was similar (minus the basic requirements) and would be equivalent to one here (in Biology). But he was under the impression that it would land him jobs in the U.S. that usually are for people that have Masters or PhDs here. This is not the case for many jobs, but there are some schools that have programs that do lead to jobs after a bachelors here too. Teaching is one of them, BUT it is often the case that teachers do their masters too (me), because the starting salary is higher this way, and you eventually need to get a different license depending on the state, which kind of forces you to get a masters anyway.

Honestly, the requirement courses in college are more of a liberal arts thing, to make everyone well-rounded and start off at around the same level and it can be a waste of money and time, but they are needed most of the time. After that you pretty much stay within your major and choose classes offered within that major until you fulfill the requirements. If you need more credits, you can minor or double major, or take electives in other disciplines. If you were to only specialize in your major, it would take about 3 years, so if your bachelors is like that, it seems to me that it would be equivalent. You would only need to take extra classes if you are entering grad school and they require something you haven't taken.

Your employer wouldn't really be that interested in particular courses, just the fact that you have a work permit and a similar bachelors to one in the US.