VERY confused with the workings of a university. Help?

Sure. When you go to college (after high school), you are an undergraduate. After four years (or more or less, for some people) you graduate with a bachelor's degree. This is when a lot of people start looking for jobs.

If you decide to keep studying what you are interested in, you can become a graduate student. Grad students take more advanced classes, work more closely with professors, and many spend a lot of their time doing research. The graduate programs that are available are: masters (you end up with a masters degree), doctorate (you end up with a Ph.D., and can put a Dr. in front of your name when you graduate), or any of the professional degrees (M.D. for medical school, J.D. for law school, M.B.A. for business school, etc).

Pursuing a Ph.D. takes longer and requires more research work than pursuing a masters (which is usually only about 2 years), so it is much more prestigious.

Honors can be given with any degree. It's a recognition that you did exceptionally well in school, or that you did extra projects. It varies depending on the university and the department.

Your basic degree is a Bachelor's degree. This is typically a 4 year degree, but some complete it in 5 years, some in fewer. 120 hours is the general requirement, although some accounting, engineering, and/or architecture programs can be 150 hours.

Before you receive your Bachelor's Degree, you are an undergrad... you are Under the requirement for Graduation. Any degree you undertake after a Bachelor's is a Graduate degree.

The basic graduate degree is the Master's degree. This can be a 1 year or 2 year program, based on the degree requirements. After a Master's degree, one can continue with a Ph.D - a Doctor of Philosophy. Any advanced degree (Ph.D., J.D. - Juris Doctor) past a Masters is a doctorate. Ph.D. can be 5 years, and requires the writing of a dissertation. It can be pursued directly after a Bachelors, or after a Masters. (An MBA is only a Master's degree, and not a doctoral degree... might have been confusing in another post.)

At any point, your degree might be an Honors degree. The honors designation only indicates that you are undertaking additional work and are at the top of your class (10%, 20%, or whatever).

Hope this helps!

Here goes:

Community/Junior College

Technical/Occupational Degrees--Can require from 6 months to 2 years of study, depending on the program.

Ends in: Certificate or Associates Degree.

-or-

Transfer Degrees--generally requires 2 years.

Ends in: Associates Degree.

College/University (undergraduate level)

Generally requires 4 years of study.

Ends in: Bachelors Degree.

Post-Undergraduate:

Certificate Programs

Generally requires 1-2 years of study.

Graduate School: Masters Degree Programs

Generally requires 1-2 years of study.

Professional Schools: Medical School, Law School, Masters in Business Administration

MD: 4 years of coursework

JD: 3 years

MBA: 2 years

Graduate School: PhD Programs

Generally requires 3-5 years of study.

Graduate School: Post-Doctoral Programs

Time required varies

The number of courses required at each level can vary widely by school and the number of credits per course. Similarly, the GPA requirement for latin honors or the general "honours" designation at graduation may vary.

You can go to technical school/trade school and get a license or certificate and get a job, usually school for these is around 1-2 years (you can go to various programs like cosmetology, phlebotomy, welding, etc).

You can get an AA (associates degree) (60 units) from a 4 year college or a community college/2-year college.

A bachelors degree is a BS 120 or a BA 90 a BS is (Bachelors of science or a Bachelors of Art(a BA takes a little less time to get).

Your undergraduate work means you do not hold a BS or a BA degree, it concerns the type of classes you are taking. Graduate work means that you have a BS or a BA degree and are taking classes to get a Masters degree or higher.

A Ph.D (doctor of philosophy) also called a doctorate degree is the highest degree you can get. Usually these people are teachers or write books. Unit wise this varies major to major and school to school. You have to write a huge thesis paper to get this degree.

You get a masters degree after you earn a BS or a BA. Unit wise this varies major to major and school to school.

Honors means you had good grades and got into the honors program at your school.

Talk to the college counselor/career counselor at your school and they can answer questions for you. This varies from major to major and school to school.

Hope this helped, if not you can email me!

Associates Degree- generally two year degree

Bachelor of Arts Degree- four year degree for a specific major

Bachelor of Science Degree-4-5 year degree in science field

Post graduate degrees after B.A., B.S. degrees

Masters-- 2-3 year advanced degree

Doctorate of Philosophy- 2-5 year advanced degree

Doctorate of Medicine- 5-8 year advanced degree in Medicine

Honors are granted at the completion of all levels and reflect GPA in general

Some honors are for top graduate in a specific program and can include monetary rewards or scholarships

There are other degrees and categories but this will give you the basics

My first semester as an undergraduate cost 750 for room board and tuition, and it doubled by the last semester.

My first masters was about 65 dollars a credit, and my second masters was over 500 dollars a credit.

A PhD is the same as a doctorate and would take 5 more years of university and cost, at current rates, 20 thousand dollars a year.

Honors are when your grades are good.