EUeDU education credit equivalent

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by PMBrooks, Aug 17, 2009.

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  1. PMBrooks

    PMBrooks New Member

    Does anyone know the equivalent American credit hour to the new European Union educational credi unit? I have noticed all European universities movin to that unit of credit.

    Thanks!
     
  2. Malajac

    Malajac Member


    Hi!

    I believe 1 ECTS credit is typically said to be equal to 0.5 US semester credits. Some schools may use different ratios though.

    A typical year of study is 60 ECTS, so a 3-year Bachelor's degree is 180 ECTS, a 4 year Bachelor's 240 ECTS. Master's degrees vary from 60, 90 to 120 ECTS.

    As a side note, I believe UK (English CATS and Scottish SCQF) credits stand in ratio 2 CATS/SCQF = 1 ECTS.
     
  3. mintaru

    mintaru Active Member

    That is true, 1 ECTS credit = 0.5 US semester credits. But why do you think that some schools may use different ratios? That's new to me. Which schools, for example?

    By the way, I think it should be noted that a 60 ECTS credits Master's degree generally requires a 4 year Bachelor's degree for admission. There is a rule in very most European countries that a Bachelor's and a Master's degree combined must be equal to at least 270 ECTS credits.
     
  4. jackrussell

    jackrussell Member

    Correct me if I am wrong, but a Master degree need to have a thesis component that makes up 15-30 credits.

     
  5. Malajac

    Malajac Member


    Well, when I was first searching for the ratio I came across this school, European Nazarene College, which uses different ratios for credit conversion.

    http://www.eunc.edu/pages/academics/ects-and-us-college-credits.php

    They seem to be legit (affiliated with MidAmerica Nazarene University, which is accredited by NCA). I also think I've seen other schools proposing somewhat different conversion ratios, but I would need some time to dig that up again.

    As for the second part of your post, schools here in B&H that have started implementing Bologna are indeed mostly switching to the 3+2 model. Even that has caused some uproar among those who graduated following the old system - for example the degree from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering used to be 4.5 years to the Bachelor's (or diplomirani inžinjer in local terminology), now it's extra half a year, so 5 years, to the Master's, but only for those who started after Bologna was introduced.

    However, I think Sweden is one example of an exception to the 270 ECTS rule, at least for it's magister (One-year Master's) degree:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bologna_process#Sweden


    Here's an example of a program offering both magisterexamen and masterexamen degrees:

    http://www.bth.se/tek/masters_eng.nsf/$DefaultView/C66DD8F6A94FDF11C1257233003D68FE?OpenDocument
     
  6. mintaru

    mintaru Active Member

    Yes, but this is not directly caused by the Bologna process. It's rather a matter of tradition. Most European universities, especially in continental Europe, did never grant any Master's or Master's level degrees without the completion of a thesis.

    Very surprising, but it makes even sense! US credits and ECTS credits really measure two different things. ECTS measures the student load and the US College Credit system measures only contact hours. However, that also means it is not always possible to easily convert ECTS credits into US credits since "1 ECTS credit = 0.5 US semester credits" is not always true. It rather is some kind of recommendation. A quite poor situation...

    Interesting, so the old diplomirani inžinjer is considered a Bachelor's level degree? Its German counterpart, the Diplom-Ingenieur - while also a first degree - is always considered to be at Master's level, comparable to the undergraduate Master's at UK universities.

    Yes, Sweden is an exception but the so called magisterexamen did exist long before the implementation of the bologna process at Swedish universities. The Swedes did not replace their old degree system with the new Bachelor-Master-Doctorate system. Their new system is a mix of their old system and the Bologna degree system, and there are two other "non-Bologna" degrees in that new Swedish system, the Högskoleexamen and the Licentiatexamen. Quite confusing, in my opinion.

    mintaru.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 18, 2009
  7. Malajac

    Malajac Member

    I guess the answer to your question is both yes and no, depending which way you choose to look at it.

    Let me try to explain it. According to the old system, the studies in electrical engineering at the University of Sarajevo were thus aranged:

    - 4.5 years (9 semesters) with awarded title diplomirani inženjer
    - 2 more years with awarded title magistar nauka or magistar tehničkih nauka (literally "Master of Technical Sciences", former Master of Science degree)
    - not sure how long the doctorate was

    The new Bologna-inspired system goes like this:

    - 3 years (180 ECTS) with official awarded titles being "Bachelor of Engineering" (yes, in English) and "inženjer"
    - 2 more years (120 ECTS) with awarded titles "Master of Engineering" and "diplomirani inženjer"
    - 3 more years for the doctorate


    I do know of Bosnians with only former diplomirani inženjer title being admitted to doctoral studies, in Germany, Croatia etc, so in this way it is comparable to the German situation. The new law also specifically equates the new technical Master's degree and diplomirani inženjer degree (in the new system they are one and the same) - so this is also comparable to German situation.

    However the fact remains that in the old system those with that title if they wanted to continue university education in B&H were normally expected to go to the MSc (magisterij) first, then doctorate. Several of my friends are actually doing this. It is mostly because of this that I consider, for Bosnian purposes, the old diplomirani inžinjer title to be equal to Bachelor's, not Master's. Also, I hold a "Bachelor of Electrical Engineering" from a Malaysian university. When it was recognized here in B&H, it was recognized as diplomirani inženjer informacionih tehnologija - that's Bosnian for IT, and I was then admitted by the same university to the Master's studies. (we have this process we call nostrifikacija for foreign degrees where you basically submit your degree and study program to a specific faculty and let them judge what is the B&H equivalent to your degree). To be honest, I had it evaluated prior to the introduction of Bologna - maybe, had I waited, I would have been a Master of Engineering too (my Bachelor's was also basically 4.5 years, 139 semester credits)


    Also, we have a number of those people with a magistar degree from the old system, with, in the case of Electrical Engineering, 7.5 years of study under their belt (almost as much as Bologna doctorate), who nonetheless are not doctors but masters and do not fit well into the new system. They would actually have to compete in the job market with the new Bologna 5-year Master's.

    Quite confusing actually.
     
  8. Malajac

    Malajac Member

    Woops, a small correction is in order

    should be



    One would expect an engineer to know how to add two numbers properly :D , but in my defense I was writing this in a hurry.
     
  9. almir_me

    almir_me New Member

    Hello Malajac. I'm from Bosnia too, and I'm pursuing Bechelors (Hons) Degree in IT, in Malaysia :). It's 1+3+2 system. In other words Foundation + Degree + Master. Foundation is just an entry requirement, is not compulsory if you have A level or equivalent, like our bosnian 4 year secondary school. I completed first foundation semester and then found out I can skip other two because I have 12 years in pre-univesity education (8+4). So I did.

    Once I complete my studies (6 semesters, 3 years) I should have 102 credit hours. Because I dont know are they using american credit hours here in Malaysia, my question is: is my 102 credit hours equal to 204 ECTS? Or, what is the ratio between ECTS and malaysian credit hours?
    By the way, I plan to do "nostifikacija" in FIT Dzemal Bijedic Mostar.
     
  10. Jayzee

    Jayzee New Member

    Hi can someone please post a link for some sort of official document that states that 1 ECTS = 0.5 US Credit hours (that is, 1 US credit hour = 2 ECTS).
     

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