which graduates take the licensing examination and, as appropriate, three to five years’ residency (for specialization). All students seeking admission to medical programs must attain a passing score on the National Medical Admission Test (NMAT) as established by each institution. The Bachelor of Laws (LL.B or L.I.B) also requires four years of study following the first degree. The Juris Doctor (J.D.) requires an additional eight units (2-4 classes) of coursework and a thesis beyond the requirements for the LL.B. Students of both programs are expected to complete an internship of not more than 12 months, completion of which combined with completion of the LL.B/J.D., qualifies them to take the bar examination administered by the Supreme Court. A few universities offer four-year master’s programs that build on a four-year bachelor’s degree for veterinary medicine, rather than the usual six-year program (see above).
Stage III: Doctor of Philosophy (Doktor sa Pilospiya) programs often involve a substantial amount of coursework, while the dissertation may comprise as little as a quarter or a fifth of the total credits. Ph.D programs usually require two or three years of full-time study beyond the master's degree. Programs that require primarily coursework without original research emphasis, and usually without a major dissertation, award professional degrees identified specifically as Doctor of the program’s disciplinary field, such as Doctor of Education (Ed.D.), Public Health (D.P.H.) and others. The entrance requirement is usually a master degree, with an average grade of 2.00 or B.
Two academic degrees in law are offered in addition to the first professional degrees: the two-year Master of Law (LL.M) and the three-year Doctor of Civil Laws (D.C.L). Both require a J.D. or LL.B for admission.
NON-UNIVERSITY HIGHER EDUCATION
Technical and vocational schools and institutes offer programs in a variety of fields, including agriculture, fisheries, technical trades, trade technical education, hotel and restaurant management, crafts, business studies, secretarial studies, and interior and fashion design. The entry requirement is a high school diploma, and entrance examinations are generally not required. Postsecondary programs lead to either a certificate (often entitled a Certificate of Proficiency) or a diploma. The Professional Regulation Commission regulates programs for 38 different professions and administers their respective licensure examinations.
Programs and Degrees
Credentials are awarded by individual institutions and authorized by TESDA. TESDA has (recently) established a process called the Technical Occupation Qualification and Certification System (TOQCS) through which standards are set for a specific set of craft/trade-level qualifications based upon the type of program and occupational skill level involved. All technical credentials are referred to as certificates and are awarded after the successful passing of standardized examinations administered by TESDA. The national certificates generally require a program of study of between one and two years. There are a series of tests that lead to certifications on a four-step ladder ( Level I, II, III and Technician or Master Craftsman). All four levels do not exist in all occupational categories. Technical and vocational institutions label their credentials by a wide variety of titles in a particular field, these include diploma, associate, graduate or craftsman.
Some technical institutes are authorized to award bachelor degrees in a similar range of subjects to those of technical and vocational schools. Community colleges offer two-year programs leading to an Associate Degree in a range of vocational areas.
A list of TESDA-recognized technical and vocational schools and programs is available HERE.
In general elementary-level teachers must hold a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in elementary education (B.E.Ed), while preschool teachers must have at least six units of pre-primary education. At the secondary level, the basic qualification is a bachelor’s degree in seconda