What is the difference between a Masters degree and a Ph.D.?

Question

What is the difference between a Masters degree and a Ph.D.?

Answer 1

The difference is 4 more years, a dissertation, several tens of thousands more dollars and the ever elusive tenure track job market! Some programs offer a Master's degree (usually a 2 year process with a thesis requirement) on the way to a PhD or some programs build it into the PhD... which takes (on average*) 7 years post BA . Deciding which degree is appropriate really depends on what field you are in and what your career aspirations are. Should you wish to teach or research at the college level a PhD is required (unless you wish to remain at the adjunct or lecturer level at a community college, for example) but for many fields a Master's degree is sufficient. A program that only offers the PhD (where the Master's is implied) is usually a professor prep program (rigorous research, little teaching prep etc.) and not necessarily for someone looking to work fairly quickly.



Really depends on the field and your drive to earn an advanced degree - getting to the dissertation phase is not easy - there are writing, publishing, teaching, service and course requirements which usually preclude working a regular full time job. Many Doctoral students are awarded teaching/research assistantships that will pay tuition and a small living... very small with teaching and/or research responsibilities to the University.. leaving very limited time for other things... (sleeping being one) and an extremely high quality of work is required (though this is based on how competitive the school and field are) so many graduate students are academically fulfilled but poor and unhappy/busy!



If you are successful in getting to the point where you are doing authentic original research and writing a disseration you are presumed to have acquired the knowledge equivalent to a Master's. Sometimes a student will begin a PhD program only to find it is not what they wanted etc. and after completing 2 years of course work they may complete a thesis under faculty direction and then be awarded an MA/S and they can leave honorably.



I hope this answers your questions.

Answer 2

For academic fields, most of the best universities do not accept terminal master's students. They will accept students with a bachelor's degree or with a master's degree who intend to get a PhD.



For those who started without an MS or MA, the university will give out a master's degree to students who fail to complete the PhD as recognition of the work they did complete (though it is often thought of as a booby prize). However, the degrees are in no way thought to be equivalent.



When I was at Berkeley, I could have asked for an MS after completing my written preliminary exams. I did not bother, because the MS was worthless to me. I wanted the PhD.

Answer 3

Its simple. A PhD is of a higher standard and ALWAYS includes original research and a thesis. A Masters is of a lower standard and MAY include original research and a thesis, or even research that is not original. Often you will meet the requirements of a Masters during the completion of a PhD, hence some schools will give you both. The point of getting each separately is some PhD programs require a Masters for admission. Also having a Masters will make you more competitive for admission to PhD programs, even if they don't require a Masters. Also your undergrad may be in an area different from the PhD you wish to to. Doing a Masters will often meet the requirement of having a degree in the area of your PhD to get admitted. Even though you may be able to get admission with your undergrad degree, you may wish to do a Masters to prepare you for a PhD.



Thanks

Bill

Answer 4

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Answer 5

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RE:

What is the difference between a Masters degree and a Ph.D.?

I am rather confused, because I thought that the two were very seperate degrees, but it seems as though most of the time, if a school doesn't offer the MA, then it is included in the Ph.D. What is the point of getting each seperately if you can get them together? What is the difference? Any...

Answer 6

It is more convenient to get them together. Getting a Masters at one place first then going elsewhere for a PhD is only advantageous in certain circumstances, such as:



-you want to leave your options open since you don't know if you really want to go all the way for a PhD or not

-you got your Masters at the same school as your undergrad and you want to expand your horizons elsewhere

-your undergrad GPA or some other factor isn't good enough to get into a top program, but you're confident that you can do better in graduate classes and reapply to a better program after the Masters. If there's a big difference in ranking/quality/appropriateness to your topic between where you can get in now and where you could get in after some hard work in a Masters program, the extra year or two could be worth it. Small difference, not so much.

-last but not least, if you start a Ph.D. at one school and for some reason are not happy there or need to leave for whatever reason, sometimes you can duck out after the Masters and apply elsewhere. Just don't leave on such bad terms that no one will recommend you.



So those are some good reasons to do them separately. Otherwise, you're probably better off doing them together because doing them separately will add at least a year to your time in grad school, sometimes more. The Masters or first two years of your Ph.D. will be spent mostly taking classes. You may also have independent research and probably will have exams as well. Simply put, a Ph.D. is a Masters + a dissertation, sometimes with other requirements in between, such as more classes, more exams, etc.



Another advantage to doing the Ph.D. straight out of undergrad is that you're more likely to be fully funded (free tuition + stipend for TA or RA work) as a Ph.D. student than if you only sign up for a Masters. The availability of funding varies across schools and subjects. If unsure, it's worth asking about when you're applying.

Answer 7

Most school wills not offer a phd in certain subjects, which is why people take them seperately. Some schools just offer the masters degree and you have to go to another university for the phd.

But you are right that a few schools are set up to offer the entire program. However, some people like to show diversity and for some professions (such as higher ed) require versitatlity in education. It looks better to have your masters degree and phd from different schools. Often time professors intentionally get their phd in a different state form the one they wish to teach.

Rest assured, they are two very seperate degrees however colleges that offer both a masters and phd have found a creative way to combine the material and help you achieve both much faster.

Answer 8

Well, obviously if you get a PhD you are there longer. I know at UNC in the Information Science program the MS curriculum is different than the PhD curriculum. In some fields a masters is more or less useless...unless you want to be a HS teacher...which is a great thing to do. My mom has a masters and was a HS teacher, but unless you know that's what you want to do, the PhD may be better. On the other hand, some positions may think you are overqualified with a PhD. It really just depends on what you are going into. Basically, if you are doing natural sciences, you don't want (just) an MS unless you want to be a HS teacher.

Answer 9

At most universities, completion of a master's degree requires two to three years of coursework and exams. Some programs (particularly in the science fields) require that the master's candidate complete a thesis, reporting a research project that the student has conceptualized and investigated.



The thesis project is conducted under the supervision of a major professor, and must be presented to a thesis committee, consisting of several faculty members from the student's academic department (and occasionally, outside members, if the research topic engages multiple disciplines).



The doctorate requires 4-7 years of study, incorporating 2-3 years of coursework and a least a year to complete the dissertation. Dissertation research is usually far more independent than thesis research, but again, the work is completed under the supervision of a major professor, and must be proposed, and later defended in front of a dissertation committee.



Many doctoral programs require the PhD candidate to spend at least a year engaged in intensive reading, in preparation for a lengthy and challenging examination, which may include both written and oral questioning. The exam itself is often referred to as the "Comprehensive Exam". Passing the comprehensive is often a prerequisite to being granted approval to begin the dissertation research.



Unlike other papers and exams, there is no particular guarantee that a PhD student will satisfy his/her committee with "good work" - it is not at all uncommon for a dissertation committee to reject all or part of the research proposal and all or part of the final dissertation, once presented. It is also not uncommon for a candidate to be sent back to better prepare for another shot at the comprehensive exam.



There really shouldn't be much confusion about the difference between the two; The master's is primarily a program of advanced coursework (which may or may not include a research requirement), while the PhD is primarily a program of advanced research.



As some of the other respondents have explained, there are many schools that do not offer doctoral degrees, as a proper PhD program would require the availability of advanced laboratory and research facilities.



Many universities offer doctoral degrees in some departments and not in others - for example, a particular state university might have a PhD program in Computer Science and Psychology, but not in History or Mathematics.



Among schools that DO offer a doctoral degree, most do not allow students to opt between a master's program or a PhD program. These schools offer a PhD program, and they're not interested in admitting students who aren't there to earn the doctorate. (This is not universal, there are schools that do offer the option).



Some of the schools that will only accept students for the PhD program will nonetheless "award" the master's when the student has completed the required coursework (and if necessary, the thesis). I guess these programs kind of see the Master's as a "waypoint" that a doctoral candidate can use to measure his/her progress towards the terminal PhD.



Many doctorate holders will list the Master's as an earned degree on their curriculum vitae (resume), regardless of whether or not the school actually awarded them a separate degree.



The particular program that I attended was a doctorate-admission only program that acknowledged the completion of the master's level requirements, and officially designated its students as M.A. or M.S. recipients in university correspondence. Again, it was probably mostly to signify that we were advanced students, and that we had completed the thesis requirement.



There are a few general rules of thumb about master's and PhD program...



Master's programs are generally less prestigious and USUALLY less well-funded as far as financial aid to the students. PhD programs often provide significant scholarships, grants and stipends in exchange for research and teaching responsibilities.



Master's only programs tend to be offered at institutions with less advanced research and technological opportunities available to the students.



Whether an individual student should pursue a PhD, or just a master's really depends on the interests and capabilities of the student AND the demands of employers in the field of interest. If research is not your "thing", then a PhD is probably not for you - if nothing else, a PhD is a 4-7 research training and research performance degree that trains you to....you guessed it...do research.



If the field that interests you is a research field at heart (mathematics, chemistry, psychology, etc.), then employers will probably demand a PhD. If the field that interests you rewards employees with advanced training (primary and secondary school teaching, accounting, nursing, etc.), then you're probably looking at a field that doesn't require more than a Master's degree.



If you want to prepare other graduate students at a institution of higher learning, then you, like most (if not all) of your professors will need to have a PhD, and you will devote your professional career to both teaching and research.



I hope all that helped clear up the confusion. Good luck to you!