The 'laurel berry' behind baccalaureate is a medieval pun, not the real root
In the 12th century a bachelor was a knight too young or too poor to lead vassals under his own banner. Universities borrowed the word for junior members, and scholars later punned it into bacca lauri, laurel berry, evoking victors' wreaths. The pun stuck so well that many still believe it.
By the end of the 13th century, junior guild members and university students were also called bachelors. The folk etymology linking Latin baccalaureus to laurels awarded for success was wordplay rather than history. Today the degree takes anywhere from three to six years depending on country and subject, and the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science are the most common forms.
Titles do not always match levels. The medical MBBS carries a bachelor's name but sits higher in qualifications frameworks, while the Scottish ancient universities' undergraduate MA and Canada's MD bear other names yet can be classified as bachelor's-level. In Britain and systems modelled on it, an honours degree demands a higher standard than a pass or ordinary degree, sometimes an extra year. Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada offer a postgraduate 'bachelor with honours', usually built around a year-long research thesis.
Colonial history shaped much of Africa's system. Nigeria follows British patterns and Cote d'Ivoire French ones. In Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco the first degree is a three-year licence, called al-ijazah in Arabic in Tunisia and Morocco, reached after the baccalaureat school exam. Nigerian universities classify degrees from first class to pass, may double the time limit for weak students, so a five-year course cannot stretch beyond ten, and require graduates to complete about a year of National Youth Service Corps, created after the civil war to build national cohesion.
In the Americas, Argentina's licenciatura must include more than 2,600 hours of instruction and lasts four years or more, while a Brazilian bachelor's, taking three to six years, is the standard professional credential and corresponds roughly to Europe's first cycle under the Bologna Process. Canada's provinces agreed in 2007 on degree descriptors deliberately similar to Bologna's.
Source: Bachelor's degree
