Professional studies

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone or spelling.
You can assist by editing it now. A how-to guide is available. (March 2008)

This article or section needs to be wikified to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please help improve this article with relevant internal links. (March 2008)

Professional studies is a term used to classify academic programs that are either applied and interdisciplinary, or training for a profession.

As an interdisciplinary program, professional studies leads to a Bachelor of Professional Studies (BPS), Master of Professional Studies (MPS), or Doctor of Professional Studies (DPS). A BPS is similar to a Bachelor of General Studies with a greater emphasis on practical and technical training (and a corresponding lower emphasis on liberal arts), and therefore of greater interest to mid-career students.^{[citation needed]} MPS degrees are usually course-based with a report or project component rather than a research thesis.^[1] The US National Science Foundation considers a DPS to be equivalent to a PhD.^[2]

As professional training, professional studies is the activity practised in a first-professional degree or certification program. Professional studies usually combines theory and practice-based professional learning, focusing on a body of knowledge that is more strictly-delineated and canonical than non-professional studies. Students are trained to ensure expected standards and adequate service delivery in the practise of a profession.^[3]