Undergraduate degree
An undergraduate degree (also called first degree, bachelor's degree or simply degree) is a colloquial term for an academic degree taken by a person who has completed undergraduate courses. It is also an oxymoron, since one cannot hold a degree as an undergraduate. In the United States, it is usually offered at an institution of higher education, such as a college or university. The most common type of these undergraduate degrees are associate's degree and bachelor's degree. Bachelor's degree typically takes at least three or four years to complete. These degrees can be categorised as basic degrees.
Bachelor's degree
Up until 2009/2010, the system was split into three categories of degrees. There were the so-called first-cycle degrees: "Diplomado" or "Ingeniero Técnico", with nominal durations varying between three and four years; there were also second-cycle degrees: "Licenciado" or "Ingeniero" with nominal durations varying between four and six years; and finally the third-cycle degrees: "Doctor." The official first-cycle degrees are comparable in terms of duration, scope, and educational outcomes to an Anglo-Saxon bachelor's degree. Meanwhile, the second-cycle degrees are comparable in terms of duration, scope, and educational outcomes to an Anglo-Saxon bachelor's + Master's degrees combination if compared with the Anglo-Saxon system. In this traditional system the access to doctoral studies was granted only to the holders of "Licenciado", "Ingeniero" or "Arquitecto" (second-cycle) degrees, and the "Master" or "Magister" titles were unregulated (so, there coexisted so-called "Master" programs with different durations, from some months to two years, backed by universities or centers without any official recognition) and only the reputation of the program/institution could back them.