"Professional studies" is a term used to classify academic programs which are applied or interdisciplinary in focus. The term can also be used for non-academic training for a specific profession.
Professional studies usually combine 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 best practice of a profession.
Professional studies may lead to academic degrees such as the 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. MPS degrees are usually course-based with a report or project component rather than a research thesis. The US National Science Foundation considers a DPS to be equivalent to a PhD.
Famous quotes containing the words professional and/or studies:
“... all professional ideologies are high-minded. Hunters, for instance, would not dream of calling themselves the butchers of the woods.”
—Robert Musil (1880–1942)
“Possibly the Creator did not make the world chiefly for the purpose of providing studies for gifted novelists; but if he had done so, we can scarcely imagine that He could have offered anything much better in the way of material ...”
—Elizabeth Stuart Phelps (1844–1911)