Diploma
A diploma is a document awarded by an educational institution (such as a college or university) testifying the recipient has graduated by successfully completing their courses of studies.
The term diploma is also used in some historical contexts, to refer to documents signed by a monarch affirming a grant or tenure of specified land and its conditions (see Anglo-Saxon charters and diplomatics).
[10] In Ontario, Canada, diplomas are two and three year academic post-secondary programmes taught by colleges and institutes of applied studies, arts, and technology.
Baccalaureate degrees in Ontario are commonly a year longer than an Advanced Diploma and are offered by both colleges and universities.
In Germany, Ukraine, Serbia, Croatia, Hungary and other countries that adopted the German academic education system, diploma (in German Diplom) is the standard academic degree, needing at least 3.5 years to complete it, being comparable with a bachelor's and master's degree in one.
In Japan, a diploma may be a Japanese original academic degree or a Certificate of Graduation issued at several levels from elementary school to university.
In Mexico and other Latin American countries, a diploma may be awarded for short courses of vocational training.
Other private schools like Kaplan, SIM, PSB Academy and MDIS, also offer diploma programmes between a period of six months and two years.
[21] The advanced diploma (AdvDip) is a FHEQ Level 6 award, equivalent to the final year of a bachelor's degree.
[25] Even though they are considered equivalent to a bachelor's degree they usually have a duration of one or two years and they can be offered both on a full-time and a part-time basis.
In the United States, the word diploma usually refers to the physical document, especially in the context of academic degrees earned at the college or university level.
The reason this distinction matters is that many American universities do not print diplomas until several weeks, months, or even up to a year after the dates on which graduates were formally awarded their degrees on their academic transcripts.
This important distinction can lead to some confusion when persons who obtained degrees at American universities are presenting their academic credentials in other countries.
[citation needed] There are two major exceptions where Americans have merged the document with the qualification it represents (as seen in other countries).
Historically, American universities emulated their European counterparts by issuing diplomas written in the Latin language.
"[26] At Harvard University, undergraduate degrees began to be written in English in 1961, leading to a street protest by students known as the "Diploma Riots".
The International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma is a pre-university qualification normally taken by students in the final two years of high school.
