Master of Arts (Oxford, Cambridge and Dublin)

In addition, under the principle of ad eundem gradum, graduates of the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and Dublin may use a process called "incorporation" to be granted equivalent academic degrees at either of the other two universities, provided that they wish to register for a separate higher degree at that university or are members of the academic staff, and that the required fee is paid. One of the most frequently cited examples of incorporation is that of the steamboat ladies – approximately 720 women graduates of Oxford and Cambridge who were awarded Dublin degrees. Although not earned through further study, both the original degree(s) and any incorporated ad eundem degree(s) may be listed as post-nominals in the Oxford University Calendar.

This promotion may take place no earlier than seven years after starting one's degree at Oxford, six years after starting the degree at Cambridge, and three years after graduation at Dublin. While these three universities also award postgraduate master's degrees that require further study, they do not use the title "MA" for any taught or examined postgraduate qualification. This practice differs from that of most universities worldwide, where the Master of Arts degree denotes postgraduate study. Consequently, the degrees are often referred to as the Oxford and Cambridge MA, and the Dublin or Trinity MA, in order to distinguish them. This system has at times caused confusion among employers, who may mistakenly regard the promoted MA as an additional academic qualification. Similarly, while a MPhil at other universities would suggest a longer research-focused postgraduate degree, such a degree is awarded to graduates of shorter, mostly taught postgraduate programmes at Cambridge, Dublin and Oxford, adding to the possible confusion.

History and rationale

This system dates back to the Middle Ages, when the study of the liberal arts typically took seven years. At that time, students often entered universities at a much younger age than is common today, sometimes as young as 13 or 14. The basic university education comprised the Trivium (grammar, rhetoric, and dialectic) and the Quadrivium (geometry, arithmetic, astronomy, and music), which together took about seven years of full-time study.

During this period, a student would first earn a baccalaureate, or bachelor's degree, after completing part of his studies. The division between the trivium and quadrivium did not always correspond to the division between the BA and MA degrees, though it was adopted at Cambridge during the Tudor period and remained in place long after other European universities had moved away from it. At the University of Paris, the baccalaureate was awarded soon after responsions (the matriculation exam), while at Oxford and Cambridge the BA degree was granted much later and became more significant over time.

Upon being admitted to the degree of Master of Arts, a student would become a full member of the university and gain the right to vote in the Convocation. The new MA could then teach at the university for a set number of years, during which time they were referred to as a "regent" or "regent master". Upon completing this period of teaching, they would become a "non-regent master" and either leave the university or remain to pursue further studies in one of the higher faculties – Divinity, Canon or Civil Law, or Medicine.

Over time, it became possible to study in these higher faculties as a BA, although a graduate could not be promoted to a higher degree until they had the seniority required to become an MA. As the requirements for the BA degree increased, the requirements for the MA degree gradually diminished. By the 18th century, the practice had largely become a formality, and students could meet residency requirements (once fulfilled by attending lectures) simply by keeping their names on the college books. In 1800, Oxford introduced modern-style examinations for the BA and MA degrees, but the MA degree examination was abolished in 1807.

From at least the 16th century, noblemen formed the most select group of undergraduates, paying four times the normal fees and sometimes receiving an MA degree after just two years of residence, without completing the BA degree. However, many did not stay long enough to graduate. Noblemen were distinguished by gold tassels on their mortarboard caps, compared to the black ones worn by students of lower social ranks. Students of the next rank – fellow-commoners at Cambridge and Dublin or gentlemen commoners at Oxford – paid twice the standard fees, dined with the fellows, and were exempt from attending lectures and performing exercises required for the BA degree. They could graduate a year earlier than students in lower ranks. However, at Cambridge, both higher categories were still required to take the Senate House Examination to receive an honours degree. Below these were commoners at Oxford or pensioners at Cambridge and Dublin, who paid the standard fees and were more likely to remain and graduate. At the bottom were servitors at Oxford and sizars at Cambridge and Dublin, who had their fees subsidized by the college in exchange for menial duties. Oliver Goldsmith was a sizar; Isaac Newton was a subsizar. These distinctions were gradually phased out during the 19th century.

Reforms in the late 16th century allowed some ordinary undergraduates to bypass the BA degree stage altogether. Previously, it was necessary to wait three years after earning a BA degree to become a bachelor of laws or medicine, but after paying a fine, students could leave college after three years of residence to study at the Inns of Court or a teaching hospital, and return for a professional bachelor's degree, as was the case with William Blackstone.

Until 1865, all students at King's College, Cambridge, were from Eton College and could graduate BA and later MA without taking university exams. Similarly, students at New College, Oxford, who all came from Winchester College, had the same exemptions until 1834.

Although the length of undergraduate degree programs has been reduced to three or four years in all subjects, the MA degree at Oxford, Cambridge, and Dublin is still awarded roughly seven years after matriculation. This reflects the fact that much of the liberal arts education has been transferred to grammar schools, with students now entering university at an older age, typically between 17 and 19. (In France, the school-leaving certificate is still called the baccalauréat.)

Durham University (which awarded its first MA degree in 1838) and the University of London (first MA degree awarded in 1840) broke away from the ancient English model by treating the MA degree as a distinct higher degree, awarded after further examination. However, by instituting further study beyond the initial baccalaureate, these universities can be seen to have reverted to the ancient model. Most modern universities followed their lead, with the Oxford, Cambridge, and Dublin system becoming the exception. Some universities adopted the ancient model temporarily, allowing progression within the same faculty, such as from BSc to MSc, but later switched to the newer system.

Among the "steamboat ladies" (female students at Oxford and Cambridge who were awarded ad eundem degrees by the University of Dublin between 1904 and 1907, at a time when their own universities refused to confer degrees upon women), some, such as Julia Bell, earned MA degrees.

Historical examples at other universities

While today only Cambridge, Oxford, and Trinity College, Dublin, promote students to the degree of Master of Arts three years after graduation, this was a practice at other colleges before the 20th century.

Although Durham University recognised the MA degree as a higher degree, its regulation, at least until the 1940s, stipulates that Bachelor of Arts may be admitted to the degree of Master of Arts without further examination provided that they have been placed in the first or second class in the Final Honours Examination for the degree of Bachelor of Arts of nine terms' standing (three years), or six terms' (two years) standing of Bachelor of Architecture. The regulation also states that Bachelor of Arts, having passed examination of other Bachelor's degree of the university except Music or a Diploma in Theology may also be admitted an MA without further studies and examination.

In the United States, Harvard University engaged in this practice from the mid-1600s until 1872. At Yale University, an MA degree without examination was an award from its foundation until 1871. Likewise, Columbia University awarded the Master of Arts degree in this manner from its origins as King's College, during which, in 1761, three of the five members of the original graduating class of 1758 were promoted to Master of Arts. The practice was abolished by the Board of Trustees in June 1880, when a formal exam for the Master of Arts degree was introduced.

Other American colleges, during the mid to late 1800s, awarded a Master of Arts degree "in course" to graduates of three years standing, including at Amherst College, Dartmouth College and Union College. As late as 1882, the Master of Arts degree in the United States was described as "a meaningless record of the circumstance that a graduate survived graduation three years and visited his College at the close of this period."