Having switched to the Bologna education system, Russia began to master new higher education programs - undergraduate and graduate programs. Most universities began to prepare students for these programs. You can study for a bachelor in four years. After that, the student either goes to work or continues to study at the magistracy. It lasts another two years. The future master deepens the knowledge gained. At the end of the magistracy, he can go to graduate school and engage in full-fledged scientific activity.
Undergraduate
Bachelor students study for four years. The basis of admission is secondary complete education, that is, eleven classes of the school. Also, a graduate of a technical school or college can go to study. In this case, the training period will be three years.
After completing their studies, bachelor students receive higher education diplomas and a bachelor's degree.
But now students should learn to understand what applied baccalaureate and academic baccalaureate are, as recently these programs have also appeared in the Russian education system.
Strategy 2020
Since 2010, just over 50 Russian technical schools and universities have been experimenting with applied and academic undergraduate programs. What is an applied undergraduate? This is the training of qualified personnel with higher education. At its core, it is an alternative to secondary vocational education.
Applied undergraduate studies have become part of the refinement of the government's Strategy 2020 program, aimed at the country's long-term socio-economic development.
When the concept of “applied baccalaureate” appeared in the country, it was assumed that it would also be taught for four years. Later, specialists leaned toward a three-year training program. Now they have settled on the first option of training.
What does applied undergraduate mean? Now this concept includes two aspects:
- Training workers who will have higher education.
- Baccalaureate, which has an expanded applied part, focused on student employment.
In higher educational institutions of the country they prefer the second option.
The meaning of applied undergraduate
The main thing that attracts students to the applied undergraduate program is the opportunity to profitably find a job after graduation. As you know, a bachelor student does not have certain qualifications. During training in the applied baccalaureate program, the student learns the same basic part as in conventional training, but the additional one is more focused on practice. As a result, the student receives a clear qualification.
Training students in a particular profession, teaching computer skills and basic subjects aimed at supporting the activities of the leader, providing relevant practice and a diploma of higher education - this is what applied baccalaureate means. And trained personnel are in great demand in the modern labor market.
Training at three or four years?
So what is applied baccalaureate, in fact? This is a basic education, supplemented by applied qualifications in a particular profession.
Previously, there was debate about a three-year or four-year education. As a result, it was decided to focus on four years of study, as undergraduate students should receive an appropriate academic level of education.
When the system was just introduced, the curriculum in colleges and technical schools was proposed to be renamed into applied baccalaureate. Duration of training in these educational institutions is 3-3.5 years. But the idea turned out to be untenable. In the end, the applied baccalaureate remains a bachelor's degree, that is, it involves obtaining a higher education. Technical schools and colleges do not have such qualifications.
Academic undergraduate
Having understood what applied baccalaureate is and what it focuses on preparing specialists for working conditions, we can begin to understand the concept of academic undergraduate. This training program is aimed at creating a theoretical foundation for a large number of disciplines. There is no practical activity, since it is assumed that the graduate will receive the basic skills already at work. This form of training also lasts for four years.
Each student decides for himself whether he needs an academic or applied qualification. What does applied and academic baccalaureate mean? The first focuses on practical knowledge, while the second focuses on theory. Academic bachelors are purposefully prepared for research work. They are set up for what they will go to study further - to the master.
Undergraduate difference
If you look at what applied baccalaureate and academic baccalaureate are, it turns out that the first is a worker with a higher education, and the second is a traditional form of higher education.
Further admission to the magistracy among students of applied and academic baccalaureates is different. “Academists” undergo a certain competitive selection, and “applicants” should first work in their specialty for a certain number of years before entering.
So, we examined what applied baccalaureate and academic baccalaureate mean. The difference between them is the availability of practical knowledge and skills. “Butchers” are narrow specialists with practical skills in a specific field. “Academists” have a broad outlook in a certain field of knowledge, but they lack practical skills.
Which undergraduate to choose?
We figured out what applied and academic baccalaureate means. Nevertheless, yesterday's schoolchildren are faced with a choice: where to go next? Of course, you can go to the usual undergraduate, or choose applied or academic.
Bachelor's degree involves teaching direction, obtaining theoretical knowledge. There are practical exercises, but they are few. In the diploma of higher education, bachelor students will, for example, have the inscription “Applied Informatics”.
What is an applied undergraduate? This is when a student receives the necessary practical knowledge base and subsequent employment, coupled with higher education. By the time he graduates, he will already have an idea of the working conditions. To some extent, this is all the same specialty, but only in a certain specialty. In this case, the student’s diploma will already indicate something specific, for example, “C ++ Programmer”.
If we consider what applied baccalaureate is in teacher education, then this is providing students with a mastery of a wide range of competencies in such fields as education, culture and the social sphere. The specialist should be prepared for pedagogical, research or cultural and educational activities.
So what to choose? The fact is that now in the country there are no conditions for the training of the most ready-made workers, as is expected under the program "applied undergraduate". In this case, the usual undergraduate is preferable. If only because specialists leave buildings of higher educational institutions, possessing a rather broad outlook in the chosen field of knowledge. They can go to work or go to the magistracy, doing science.
The academic baccalaureate has more advantages in this meaning. Specialists have a broad horizons and can get a job not only in a particular specialty, but also in adjacent to it. If there is no practice, then this is not so scary. At the "applicants" is also not enough. There is no necessary base in the country. Not yet.
What to do next?
Having learned what an applied and academic bachelor's degree is, comparing these concepts with a regular bachelor's degree, you begin to ask the following question: “Where then to work?” Getting a normal serious position with a bachelor's degree of any degree is quite problematic.
The specialist must acquire full theoretical knowledge in the field of interest to him, and then learn how to apply it in the workplace. Only in this case will he have the opportunity to be creative in his work tasks.
As a result, while the program is aimed at learning to press a button. These are practical skills. But what this button is useful for, what it gives and how to use it correctly, is already a theory that you should know. Without a full theoretical knowledge, a true specialist will not work even if he does an excellent job in practice.
Having considered what is applied and academic undergraduate, it is better to give preference to the second type of training.
Finally
In recent years, the higher education system in our country has undergone significant changes. Many new trends and directions have appeared. In addition to studying for bachelor's and master's degrees, students began to prepare under the applied and academic bachelor's programs. What to choose and where to go to study further, everyone decides for himself.