Below is an abridged contemporary list of American graduate degree titles compiled from a list of degrees authorized by the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York, a list of degrees cited in American Universities and Colleges, a list of degrees from the International Affairs Office of the US Department of Education, and a list of degrees from the National Science Foundation Survey of Earned Doctorates. Each graduate degree title is listed with its Faculty color.

It is not necessary for colleges and universities in the United States to confer degrees with so many different titles. This list of American degree titles is by no means exhaustive, and yet it is ridiculously long. Narrow vocational specialization seems to be the chief culprit. Some of these professional degrees are extremely uncommon – awarded by only one or two universities – thus one may wonder why those kinds of “boutique” degree titles are necessary, except to be used in advertising materials for the university, or as a desperate semantic grasp at academic legitimacy by a given vocational program.

But liberal arts degree titles are often just as verbose. “Tagged” Master of Arts and Master of Science degree titles, many of which have not been listed here, awkwardly add the major course of study to the degree title even though this information can be found on the student’s transcript.

In the past, liberal arts or research degrees in a subject would be simply called a “Master of Arts”, a “Master of Science”, or a “Doctor of Philosophy” degree without further description. One would look at the student’s transcript to discover the area of academic specialization he or she studied within a broad liberal arts framework. Narrowly-focused professional degrees, on the other hand, would be typically described with the vocation as part of the degree title, as in “Master of Agriculture” or “Doctor of Medicine”. But today, poor communication among academic or professional organizations has in some cases spawned multiple degree titles for a single degree. Identical degree programs in dentistry, for example, might be called a “Doctor of Dental Surgery” at one school, a “Doctor of Dental Science” at another, a “Doctor of Dental Medicine” at a third, and a “Doctor of Medicine in Dentistry” at a fourth. This multiplication of professional degree titles for one degree is wholly unnecessary.

The following list uses the Faculty color system of the revised 1895 Intercollegiate Code of Academic Costume. Here the wording of the degree as it appears on one’s diploma determines the Faculty color, with priority given to the Faculty, not the subject, of a tagged degree title. An advantage of this system is that it permits the colored velvet edging of the academic hood to distinguish between a liberal arts or research degree (a “Master of Arts in Journalism” degree or a “Master of Science in Journalism” degree) and a vocational or professional degree in the same subject (a “Master of Journalism” degree).

Because American academic costume is most commonly worn by college and university faculty, and because most faculty possess doctoral degrees, the shorter list of mostly doctoral degrees and their Faculty colors at the bottom of this page may be more useful than the extensive list below.