Job Discussion Forums

[fromCanada]

Dear fellow Canucks,

Recently, I came across a website of a school in Japan that hired a Canadian college graduate. I may be interested in working for this school, which requires a Bachelor's degree for consideration. I don't know why they hired a college graduate since we all know that "college" and "university" are totally different things in Canada.

My question: Are college graduates from Canada going around in Japan stating they have a degree?

I'm from Ontario and I am pretty sure that colleges do not grant degrees in Ontario....but I would like to hear your thoughts.

Just curious....

Thanks!

[Capergirl]

All of the "colleges" that I am familiar with in Canada offer diplomas and certificates, not degrees. It would seem that this particular school you are talking about is assuming that "college" and "university" mean the same thing, just as it does in the U.S. (which is not the case, obviously).

I've always wondered why Americans don't make a distinction between the two. Would any Americans here care to enlighten us?

[J-Pop]

[fromCanada]

J-Pop,

You are generally right about Canadian colleges. They are usually vocational schools that place more emphasis on practical experience and less on theory. (Unlike universities). But it gets more complicated.

I currently study at an affiliated college of a Canadian university. This again changes the meaning of "college." Basically, I attend a separate institution within a bigger insititution (the main university). The "college" I attend is no way vocational in nature, it's just an extension of the university, like another campus, but with smaller classes. Admission requirements to my college are actually higher than the main university. I even pay tuition directly to the college and not to my university; yet when I graduate from this affiliated college, I will be a university graduate. Make sense? So in a nutshell, I am going to college and university......

In regards to my original posting, I'd figure that most employers in Japan would just assume that the word "college" means "university." (like Capergirl said). But they are dead wrong.....and some Canucks will likely end up benefitting without the required Bachelors degree.

[J-Pop]

[Kestrel]

So here's my 2 cents about the college/university thing: In the UK, it's my impression that it's used as FromCanada mentioned, that is a college is an institution within a larger institution. In the States, a college will get you generally a bachelor's degree, though sometimes only an associate's degree (generally these are community colleges). At a University, on the other hand, you have classes all the way up to PhD level. And that's the difference for us.

[cangel]

Is a Canadian diploma held in the same regard as a Canadian degree? In America, colleges and universities, nowadays, are the same thing. Both will usually offer degrees up to the PhD but it usually has to do with the size of the institution and not whether it's a college or a university. In general, all degrees, presuming it's a BA, take 4 years in the states. Community colleges offer 2-year degrees (AA) and usually a lot of vo-tech diplomas and certifications. How long are the diploma and degree programs in Canada?

[hagakuri]

Hello,

It may be interesting to note, that the University system in England is far different than the States. I believe, that thier degrees are obtained within a 2 year period, more inline with the community college system of America, as opposed to a typical 4 year degree in the States.

If you look at an English `University` transcript and one from the States... they are far different. To me, it seemed like I was looking at a community college transcript. Actually, they dont have transcripts. More like a summary on a letterhead. But all the courses were very generalized with seemingly no upper division courses (ie 300-400-500).

The difference here is that these comparison is from a University in England not a college. But upon reading this thread it seems like the English `degree` is more inline with a Canadian `diploma`.

I used to be under the impression that a Degree was generally 4 years around the world. But, obviously, that is not the case. There is a VAST difference in under-graduate programs.

What if employers start stipulating that teachers should have a `4 year` degree.. and the government inacts this as policy. How many teachers would this impact do you think? hmmmmm.

[Sherri]

I am an American but got both a BA and an MSc from British universities. It took me 3 years to get the BA as it does for most/all BAs in the UK. When I applied I was lucky to be accepted even though I already had 2 years from an American university. I had to start all over from scratch and it was bloody hard work--much more rigorous than in the States.

You have to look at the system as a whole, not just how many years it takes. At that time (I know it has changed recently) in a British "high school"(they are not called high schools there) the students took exams called O and A levels. O levels were taken around age 16 (? not sure about this since I didn't attend school there) and some people after taking their O levels leave school and go on to find work. I think this more or less equivalent to a US high school graduation.

Some stay on and take A levels at age 17 or 18. These exams are very difficult as any British person can tell you. I did an A level in Russian and I can say this was far more difficult than the coursework I was doing at university level in the States. With A levels, many people just go on to find a job. It is at this point that I think we could compare with a US community college grad or 2 years at a regular university.

The proportion of people in the UK who do go on to university is far smaller than in the US--going to university means more in the UK. And I believe the overall standard is much higher than in the US. Of course this is in general--there are some great schools in the States.

I don't know what transcripts you were looking at, but there are divisions just like in the States (a "first" probably is the same as a 4.0, 2.1 is like a B average, 2.2 is like a C etc)

After going through the system I have a lot of respect for the UK university system. please excuse any typos or bad English, I am typing this with one hand and feeding a baby at the same time!

[othius]

From my understanding the designation of "college" or "university" has to do with the degrees offered. Originally, a "college" offered Baccalaureate degrees where as a "university" offered Masters level or Doctorate level degrees. Now, I don't think there's much of a difference, you can't assume by the name that it does or does not offer graduate or terminal degrees. Some choose to keep the "college" part of their name.

Anyhow, that's my two-cents.

[oich]

[canuck]

In Canada, university degrees also vary. In B.C. a degree will take your four years. In Ontario, a degree will take you either 3 years or 4 years. The 3 year degree is a degree, and the 4 year degree is with Honours. In Ontario and maybe parts of Eastern Canada, they have or had grade 13. In Western Canada, they have up to grade 12.

The words college and university are use interchangeably, except as someone has mentioned that at most colleges now offer 2 year diplomas, or what other countries might call associate degrees and 4 year degrees, however 3 year degrees in Eastern Canada (or at least in Ottawa).

To obtain a work visa, it is usually required to have a degree, not a diploma. However, I know 2 people who have successfully obtained work visa with 2 year diplomas.

[Mark]

Okay, so first the difference btwn Cda and the US

In Canada, there are 3 kinds of colleges:

1) colleges that are affiliated with a university and grant degrees within that university's system. So, a university might consist of a number of colleges

2) University colleges - these are colleges that are authorized to offer BAs

3) community colleges that cannot offer BAs

The main difference between Cda and the US is that most Canadian provinces don't have 2-year Associate degrees. British Columbia has them, but I think it might be the only one.

Also, I think that in the US it's more to common to have PhD programs that don't require a Master's degree.

It's also important to note that Quebec has a completely different educational system that I won't go into.

As for the difference between NA and Britain, yeah, it's quite different.

100-level courses are 1st year courses, 200-level are 2nd year and so on. 500-level courses are 1st year MA courses. So, History 112 might be a prerequisite for History 212, which might be a prerequisite for History 312, and so on.

100 and 200-level courses are called lower-level courses and 300 and 400-level are called upper level. 2 years of lower-level courses would constitute an Associate degree.

The idea is that students should take a wide variety of lower-level courses. Most universities require you to take a wide variety of courses. At my university each academic year was 30 credits, so you'd do 60 credits in your first two years. Most departments only offerent maybe 12 or so lower-level credits so that'd be the maximum you could take from that department.

A BA degree is 4 years and, at my uni, 120 credits. The requirements at my university for a major were at least 42 credits but no more than 60 credits in a subject with at least 30 of those credits being upper level. A minor was at least 30 credits but not more than 42 credits in a subject with at least 18 of those credits being upper level.

The Faculty of Arts had other requirements like 12 language credits, mandatory literature credits and science requirements and so on.

The system varies a bit from school to school but that's generally how it works.

Hope that helps,

Mark

[J-Pop]

[J-Pop]