51吃瓜

The difference between undergraduate and graduate is a difference of degrees (*throws graduation cap in the air to celebrate the pun*).

The level of education that each word involves varies depending on how the word is being used, and there are situations in which both words can be used in the same situation. For example, you can become a graduate student after graduating with an undergraduate degree.

The word graduate can mean very different things depending on whether it鈥檚 used as a noun (as in recent听high school graduates), an adjective (as in graduate student and graduate degree), or a verb (as in I plan to graduate next May). The same goes for its shortened form, grad, which can be used as a noun (as in Congrats, grads!) or an adjective (as in grad program).

Undergraduate can also be used both as a noun (as in I鈥檓 an undergraduate at Stanford University) or an adjective (as in I鈥檓 working toward my undergraduate degree). It can be shortened to undergrad in both cases.

By the end of this article, you鈥檒l have an advanced degree in all the different ways graduate, grad, undergraduate, and undergrad are used, and what they mean in each case.

What does undergraduate mean?

An undergraduate is 鈥渁 student in a university or college who has not received a first, especially a bachelor’s, degree.鈥� For example, a college student might say I鈥檓 an undergraduate at the University of Texas if they were pursuing a bachelor鈥檚 degree there.

Undergraduate is also commonly used as an adjective in this same context, in terms like undergraduate student, undergraduate degree, and undergraduate studies.

Undergraduate is often shortened to undergrad as both a noun and an adjective.

In undergraduate, the prefix under- is used to indicate a lower rank or status. The educational status of an undergraduate student is below that of a graduate student.

What’s the difference between wisdom and knowledge? Here’s a lesson on the two terms.

What is an undergraduate student? And what is an undergraduate degree?

An undergraduate student is a student who is pursuing a degree at the first level of higher education (meaning the level after high school) at a college or university. Undergraduate students are typically those working to earn a bachelor鈥檚 degree (or, less commonly, an associate’s degree). These degrees are often referred to with the general term undergraduate degree.

Outside of the US, an undergraduate degree is sometimes called a first degree. There are also other types of undergraduate degrees outside of the US, such as a foundation degree (which, like an associate鈥檚 degree, is typically a two-year degree).

What does graduate mean?

As a noun, the word graduate听[听graj-oo-it ] refers to 鈥渁 person who has received a degree or diploma on completing a course of study.鈥� In other words, a graduate is someone who has completed a particular level of schooling or an educational program鈥攁 child who just finished kindergarten and a doctor who just completed medical school are both graduates. It can even be used figuratively, as in She鈥檚 a graduate of the school of hard knocks.

As a verb, graduate [听graj-oo-eyt ] means 鈥渢o receive a degree or diploma on completing a course of study.鈥� The process of graduating鈥攁nd the ceremony itself鈥攊s called graduation.

As an adjective, graduate [听graj-oo-it ] means something more specific. It鈥檚 used to indicate that a student, degree, or educational program is an advanced one, beyond the level of a bachelor鈥檚 degree. This sense of graduate is most commonly used in terms like graduate degree, graduate school, graduate program, and graduate student.

What is a graduate degree? And what is a graduate student?

Graduate degree typically refers to a degree beyond a bachelor鈥檚, most commonly a 尘补蝉迟别谤鈥檚.

A graduate student is a student who鈥檚 pursuing an advanced degree after having earned their undergraduate degree (such as a bachelor鈥檚 degree) by graduating from an undergraduate program. Calling someone a graduate student most often means they are pursuing their 尘补蝉迟别谤鈥檚 degree, but it may be another advanced degree, such as a PhD (You鈥檇 most commonly call such students PhD students. Or you might say they are working toward their doctorate or their doctoral degree.)

To earn a graduate degree, graduate students go to a division of a university known as graduate school, and such a program is often called a graduate program. In all of these terms, graduate is often shortened to grad: grad school, grad student, grad program. (A student doesn鈥檛 become a graduate student until they take graduate-level courses. For example, if a student graduates with a bachelor鈥檚 degree and then later pursues a different bachelor鈥檚 degree, they are still an undergraduate student.)

Some graduate studies are referred to in more specific ways: medical students go to medical school to earn their medical degree; law students go to law school to earn their law degree.

Do you know the difference between these highly-esteemed graduate degrees and titles: PhD, MD, and Dr?

Where does the word graduate come from?

Graduate comes from the Medieval Latin 驳谤补诲耻腻谤墨, meaning 鈥渢o take a degree.鈥� It ultimately derives from the Latin gradus, meaning 鈥渁 step.鈥� Each time you graduate, you take a step to the next level of education.

What does postgraduate mean?

The adjective postgraduate is sometimes used in the same way as the adjective sense of the word graduate, especially in the UK, as in postgraduate student or postgraduate studies.

Postgraduate should not be confused with postdoctoral, which refers to studies, research, or professional work above the level of a doctorate.

How to use undergraduate vs. graduate

The best way to sort out the different meanings of undergraduate and graduate is to determine whether each word is being used as a noun, an adjective, or a verb. Here鈥檚 an easy breakdown of the differences.

• undergraduate (noun): A college student pursuing a non-advanced degree, most commonly a bachelor鈥檚 degree. Can be shortened to undergrad.
• undergraduate (adjective): Used in the context of colleges and university programs (undergraduate programs) where students are pursuing a degree (generally referred to as an undergraduate degree) that is not an advanced degree. Also sometimes shortened to undergrad.
• graduate (noun): A person who has completed a particular level of schooling or educational program. Can be shortened to grad.
• graduate (verb): To complete a level of schooling (and, typically, to receive a degree or diploma). You can graduate from kindergarten, high school, college, graduate school, medical school, etc.
• graduate (adjective): Used in the context of advanced schooling鈥攁 level beyond a bachelor鈥檚 degree, most commonly a 尘补蝉迟别谤鈥檚 program. Used in terms like graduate student, graduate school, graduate degree, graduate program, graduate courses, etc. Often shortened to grad.

Examples of undergraduate, undergrad, graduate, and grad used in a sentence

Let鈥檚 look at some examples of these words in actual, real-life use to get the meanings straight.

• As an undergraduate, she had studied engineering; as a graduate student, she switched to architecture.
• I completed my undergraduate degree after five years and a lot of hard work.
• As a graduate student, you will be expected to complete a thesis.
• You should start thinking about graduate school applications before you graduate.
• Most of the applicants for this position are recent college graduates.
• I鈥檓 still an undergrad, but I鈥檓 hoping to start grad school next fall.
• I鈥檓 a UGA grad, but I almost went to Georgia Tech.