Question:
I'm still curious. Can anyone tell me what the equivilant to my U.S. master's degree would be?? It is fairly specialized. I'll have my MLS in Library & Information Science by next spring.
Would it be considered a "trade certificate/degree" or a "diploma/associate diploma"?
I have some friends in Australia, but unfortunately we communicate via "snail mail." Otherwise, I would ask them.
Answer:
It would be a masters degree. You can get that same degree (Masters in Library and Info Systems) from the University of Tasmania (or could... they were considering shutting it down).
Beyond a bachelors things are broadly the same in Australia and the US. That is, Masters is Masters, PhD is PhD, and MBA is MBA.
I would contend from my personal experience that at least in my field, an Australian bachelors is equivalent to a US bachelors plus half of a masters. Some US universities recognise that - University of Oklahoma offered me full masters credit for my Australian bachelors and my current university is giving me 21 hrs credit towards a masters for it. However, you will be going the other way and generally speaking they will take the conversion one-to-one as noted in the previous paragraph.
No, the correct category would be considered an "advanced/higher/post-graduate degree" but there is no such category for the points test. Basically, when it comes to the points test, you do not get any extra credit for having a Masters as opposed to just a Bachelors.
- A trade certificate would be obtained from an institute of adult/further education, i.e. trade school, and would apply to plumbers, secretarial staff, automotive technicians etc. The sort of thing ITT Technical Colleges and DeVry teach in the US.
- A degree generally means a bachelors degree from a University. If there is no option for a higher degree, this could mean bachelors OR higher degree. Depends on the context.
- A diploma may be issued by a state Institute of Technology or by a University, for example. This generally requires less time than a bachelors degree and in some cases may not allow for entry into professional bodies. The prerequesites are usually a bit looser than for admission to a bachelors degree. Examples of diplomas would be applied science, performing arts.
- An associate diploma is similar to a diploma except might not take as long, e.g. two years. It might also be issued by a University. An example of something associate diplomas are offered in are modern languages.
Generally, a US bachelors would be considered equivalent to an Australian bachelors. A US two-year junior college degree (associate's degree) might be considered equivalent to an associate diploma. An Australian diploma is somewhere between the two; I can't think of a US equivalent.
