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Well I was surfing the internet for information about various degrees and came across a "classification of degrees." Wikipedia (and other sources as well) classified degrees as "Academic" and "Professional" (rather conflictingly though). Some sources mention a "XYZ" degree as academic while others mention that same course as profession.

Is there any way these classifications are structured at all (based on a specific system, e.g. the US)?

Is there any difference in bachelors of an academic degree or professional degree (if it even exists for all professional degrees or if they are their own "analogous categorisation")? For example, how would a MBBS or an LLB be classified as compared to a bachelor's in astronomy (and vice-versa)?

In case of a difference in classification, I would appreciate it if someone could briefly tell how/when are these classifications implemented and included when writing a CV (or application etc.)

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Generally, this is a distinction maintained for post-graduate degrees. These are descriptive, and not "implemented" anywhere.

Like Buffy lays out, "professional" degrees allow you to practice in a field.

  • JDs (juris doctor) are need to become a lawyer in the US.
  • MDs (medical doctor) and DOs (doctor of osteopathic medicine) are physicians in the US.
  • DVMs (doctor of veterinary medicine) are veterinarians in the US.

They have no similarity to one another except that they are considered "professional degrees." Although, I suppose all of these have exams outside of the curriculum. This is also true of a bachelor's in nursing (BSN), but I don't think these are usually called "professional bachelor's degrees."

Academic, non-professional degrees are those that are more researched focused. PhDs/ScDs, etc., probably also research and thesis-based master's like MAs or MSes, but not degrees like master's of social work (MSW) or master of public health (MPH).

"Professional" degrees are likely to be tuition-based (in the US), whereas academic doctorates will tend to be funded with tuition remission. At various large US universities, there is a seprarate "grad student senate" and "professional student senate"

There is really no need to give these distinctions any thought or list them on your CV (in the US at least). Only one degree will be appropriate for what you want.

A note regarding "a bachelor's in astronomy." In the US, the vast majority of degrees are "bachelor's of science/arts" with different universities having different traditions about what's a BS and what's a BA and whether the field is even listed on your degree.

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  • Ah! So the distinction is pretty superficial. It is just the way we perceive the "nature" of the degree itself rather than a rigid distinctions? Oh, so signifying these differences in a CV (or something similar) also serves no actual purpose and basically the same thing when listing your qualification.
    – Bhavya Jain
    Commented Sep 12 at 17:31
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    @BhavyaJain It's not a natural kind, no. Yes, there's no reason to put "professional degree" on your CV. That would be like putting an explanatory note "a university is a big building with students," very odd.
    – Azor Ahai -him-
    Commented Sep 12 at 17:41
  • Thank you for the help sir!
    – Bhavya Jain
    Commented Sep 12 at 17:49
  • In the UK the qualification to practice as a medical doctor is a double bachelor's degree - Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery. Mine are abbreviated MB, BCh, but some other medical schools use MB, CHB, MB, BS or various combinations thereof. An MD in the UK is a postgraduate research degree in medicine, not a professional qualification.
    – RuthMcT
    Commented Sep 13 at 16:09
  • @RuthMcT I invite you to edit the Q based on your preferred abbreviation. WP lists "MBBS" as an abbreviation, so I don't know in particular. Does the British system discriminate "professional" and "academic degrees"?
    – Azor Ahai -him-
    Commented Sep 13 at 16:13
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While it might not be a perfect distinction, one way to think of this is whether the degree is related to the theory underlying some field or to the practice of what is known. Medical degrees can be either, though practice is probably the more common. Physics is probably about the theory, even if it is "applied". There can be theory around applications.

It gets a bit tricky, though, (ain't language wonderful) because the "practice" of an academic mathematician is theory.

Law is generally professional, though, again, a degree from a law school might be theoretical. If the training is for those who want to help others navigate the law then it is professional. If the training is about how to extend or modify existing schemes of law then it is academic (and probably touches on politics).

But, for most cases it can be answered by "Is the primary purpose of this to extend a field or to put it to use?". I might be able to improve that wording a bit with more thought, I suppose.

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  • I see. So it is basically how that degree serves a purpose in a field and even that is not that laid out clearly as evident in the case of an "academic yet professional" maths degree.
    – Bhavya Jain
    Commented Sep 12 at 17:34
  • @Bhavya Jain: Even in mathematics there are degree programs that would probably be considered professional without stretching the usual meaning (in this context) of "professional". A couple of examples are Masters degrees in mathematical education that a high school or community college teacher might have (here I'm thinking of those in which the degree is given by the mathematics department, not the college of education) and Masters degrees in applied/industrial mathematics (Example).
    – Dave L Renfro
    Commented Sep 12 at 18:33
  • Speaking as a retired paediatrician, I disagree that medicine is either theory or practice; it is in fact both as you can't do the practice if you don't know the theory.
    – RuthMcT
    Commented Sep 13 at 16:14
  • @RuthMcT, it isn't about "knowing" the theory. It is about a career of "extending" and advancing the theory. Most applied fields require knowing the theory, but their main effort is to apply what is known, not explore what is not. When a practicing medical doctor does learn something truly new, it is often serendipity and, also likely to be lost, as their main interest is in patient care.
    – Buffy
    Commented Sep 13 at 16:21
  • @Buffy I take your point, I'd be interested to know to what extent undergraduates in a theoretical field explore what is not known, as distinct from something like medicine in the UK where research is not done until the postgraduate stage
    – RuthMcT
    Commented Sep 13 at 16:24

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