License

This article is about an academic degree. For further meanings, see License (disambiguation) .

The License is an academic degree in Francophone countries.

France

The License is a degree at French universities that is awarded after three years of successful study. The Abitur ( Baccalauréat ) is a prerequisite for starting studies in order to obtain a “license” . In the course of the Bologna Process , it represents the French equivalent of the Bachelor's degree and is the first level of the French LMD system ( License - Master - Doctorat , i.e. Bachelor - Master - Doctor). Depending on the field of study, the license is provided with an addition, such as "License en droit" (Law) or "License en lettres" (Humanities and social sciences).

In France, the previously existing “License” degree was not renamed to “Bachelor” as part of the Bologna process, otherwise there would be a risk of confusion with the “baccalauréat”, the French Abitur . "Bachelier" means high school graduate.

With the license, the student from a French university acquires a professional qualification. Many students extend their studies in order to obtain a master’s degree after another two years . After just one year ( Master 1 ), the universities can award the Maîtrise , which, however, is not an academic degree, but only a state qualification.

Belgium

In the French-speaking part of Belgium , the license is an academic degree awarded after four to five years of university studies. In the course of the Bologna Process, this degree was replaced by the new academic degree Master . Holders of a license are legally equivalent to the holders of the new master’s degree.

Switzerland

In French-speaking Switzerland , the license represents the successful completion of a degree that roughly corresponds to a German master’s degree or an Anglo-Saxon MA (4-6 years). It is also gradually being replaced by “Maîtrise” or “Master” (five years). See also: Licentiate