A postgraduate student is someone who has completed a four-year undergraduate degree (commonly referred to as a bachelor’s degree) and is now pursuing postgraduate studies. A postgraduate student, for example, could enroll in a master’s degree program or even a doctoral program. In most cases, such educational programs necessitate the completion of a bachelor’s degree and the fulfillment of other admission requirements prior to enrollment. However, some accelerated programs allow students to earn both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in the same program.
In the most basic sense, a postgraduate student is a student who continues to study after completing another educational program. However, this term is rarely used to describe someone who has completed a high school diploma or an associate’s degree program. Instead, it usually refers to someone who has completed a four-year college degree and then gone on to further their education at a postsecondary institution. The term is most commonly used to describe someone who is pursuing a master’s degree, but it is also used to describe those pursuing doctoral degrees.
When pursuing a master’s degree, a postgraduate student must usually apply for admission and submit college transcripts as well as the results of pre-admission testing to the school he wishes to attend. He will almost certainly be required to write an essay as part of the admissions process. Some master’s degree programs also require postgraduate students to participate in interviews and obtain letters of recommendation. A master’s degree program typically lasts two years and requires the completion of 30 graduate level credits.
A doctor of philosophy can be pursued by a postgraduate student (PhD). This is the highest level of education a person can obtain from a university. Because a doctoral degree is more advanced than a master’s degree, a person pursuing one must typically devote more time to school than a master’s degree program. After graduating from an undergraduate program, most people who want to earn a PhD must devote several years to doing so. Some of these programs accept postgraduate students with bachelor’s degrees, but some of the more competitive doctoral programs may require a master’s degree.