Emergence of the doctor’s and master’s degrees and the licentiate

Bachelor/master structure[edit]

All current Dutch academic education programs are offered in the Anglo-Saxon bachelor/master structure. It takes three years to earn a bachelor's degree and another one or two years to earn a master's degree. There are three official academic bachelor titles (BA, BSc and LLB) and three official master titles (MA, MSc and LLM). These academic titles are protected by the Dutch government.

Academic title bearing[edit]

After obtaining a doctorate, Dutch doctors may bear either the title dr. (lower case) before or the letter D following their name, but not both simultaneously.^[77] There is no specific notation of the discipline in which the doctorate is obtained.

Stacking of the titles as seen in countries such as Germany (Prof. Dr. Dr. Dr. Gruber) is highly uncommon in the Netherlands and not well received culturally. Those who have multiple doctor titles may use dr.mult. before their name, but this is seldomly seen in practice.^[77] The honoris cause doctors may use dr.h.c. before their name.^[77] Combining different Dutch titles, especially in different disciplines, is allowed however (e.g. mr. dr. Jansen, dr. mr. Jansen, dr. ir. Jansen, mr. ir. drs. Jansen, mr. ir. Jansen). The use of the combination ir. ing. is frequent, indicating one holds a HBO, vocational (or professional) engineering degree together with an academic engineering degree.^[78] What is not allowed is, after obtaining a doctorate, using dr. drs. Jansen; dr. Jansen should be used instead.

A combination of a Dutch title with an international title is not allowed, except for some limited number of international professional titles.^[78] Thus, one should choose either one's classical Dutch title or use the shortcut provided by the law following one's name (since September 1, 2002 it is the other way around: those who hold Dutch degrees as MSc, LLM or MA may optionally use the old-style shortcuts before their names).^[78][79] Hence, formal use of the Anglo-Saxon PhD following one's name is not legal, as it is not a Dutch degree. However, its use is commonly used for clarity towards international readers, for example English publications. The law provides the option of using the shortcut D following one's name instead of dr. before one's name.

"Doctors" (dr.) can proceed to teach at universities as "universitair docent" (UD – assistant professor). With time, experience and/ or achievement, this can evolve to a position as "universitair hoofddocent" (UHD – associate professor). Officially an UHD still works under the supervision of a "hoogleraar", the head of the department and commonly a professor. However, this is not a given; it is also possible that a department is headed by a "plain" doctor, based on knowledge, achievement and expertise. The position of "hoogleraar" is the highest possible scientific position at a university and equivalent to the US "full" professor. The Dutch professor's title, noted as prof. Jansen or professor Jansen, is connected to one's employment. This means that, should the professor leave the university, he or she also loses the privilege to use the title of professor. Retired professors are an exception and may continue to note the title in front of their name or use the title emeritus professor (em. prof.). People who switch to a non-university job lose their professor title and are only allowed to use the "dr." abbreviation.

Unlike some other European countries such as Germany, Dutch academic titles are used rarely outside academia, hold no value in everyday life and typically are not listed on official documentation (e.g. passport, drivers license, (governmental) communication). Dutch academic titles however are legally protected and can only be used by graduates from Dutch institutions of higher education. Illegal use is considered a misdemeanor and subject to legal prosecution.^[80][81] Holders of foreign degrees therefore need special permission before being able to use a recognised Dutch title, but they are free to use their own foreign title (untranslated).^{[82][83][84][85]} In practice, the Public Department does not prosecute the illegal use of a protected title (in the Netherlands applies the principle of opportunity, so some known crimes are not prosecuted).^[86]

Norway[edit]

Prior to 1980, there were around 50 different degrees and corresponding education programs within the Norwegian higher education system. Degrees had titles that included the gender based Latin term candidatus/candidata. The second part of the title usually consisted of a Latin word corresponding to the profession or training. For example, Cand. Mag. (Candidatus Magisterii) required 4 to 5 years, Cand. Real.^[87] (Candidatus Realium) required 6 years of study and a scientific thesis in a select set of scientific disciplines (realia). Over the years these were replaced gradually with degrees that were more and more internationally comparable programs and corresponding titles. For example, the degree Cand. Scient. replaced Cand. Real. in the period 1985 to 2003. These degrees were all retired in 2003 in favour of an international system.

The reform of higher education in Norway, Kvalitetsreformen ("The Quality Reform"), was passed in the Norwegian Parliament, the Storting, in 2001 and carried out during the 2003/2004 academic year. It introduced standard periods of study and the titles master and bachelor (baccalaureus).

The system differentiates between a free master's degree and a master's degree in technology. The latter corresponds to the former sivilingeniør degree (not to be confused with a degree in civil engineering, which is but one of many degrees linked to the title sivilingeniør, which is still in use for new graduates who can choose to also use the old title). All pre-2001 doctoral degree titles were replaced with the title "Philosophical Doctor degree", written philosophiæ doctor (instead of the traditional doctor philosophiæ). The title dr. philos. is a substantially higher degree than the PhD^{[citation needed]} and is reserved for those who qualify for such a degree without participating in an organized doctoral degree program.