Candidate of Philosophy

Candidate of Philosophy is any of several academic degrees, depending on the country and the institution. In various countries it is a degree higher than or equal to Master of Philosophy but lower than Doctor of Philosophy, often being similar to the latter but without a doctoral thesis. In a few countries the degree is at a level similar to a bachelor's degree elsewhere.

As with many academic degrees, the English name of this degree has a New Latin counterpart. Because Latin inflects degree names for gender, for men the degree is Candidatus Philosophiae or Philosophiae Candidatus (the word order is optional in Latin); for women, it is Candidata Philosophiae or Philosophiae Candidata. The corresponding post-nominal letters are any of the following (with or without periods/stops): C.Phil., Phil.C., C.Ph., Ph.C., Cand. phil., or Phil. cand..

The usual practice in the United States is for a graduate student working toward a doctorate to earn a master's degree (usually Master of Arts or Master of Science) in course after about two years of coursework. In a very few universities, a student who has completed all of the coursework, all of the comprehensive examinations in the subject and all of the language examination requirements, and whose dissertation topic has been approved—in short, who has fulfilled all requirements for the doctorate except the writing and defense of the dissertation itself—may be awarded a Master of Philosophy degree, beyond the Master of Arts or Master of Science already earned. In other universities, such students used the informal designation of Ph.D. (ABD), for "all but dissertation," not an actual degree but an informal convention.

The University of California began offering the Candidate in Philosophy degree in the early 1970s, but some campuses discontinued the practice before the end of that decade; it is still offered at most UC campuses, where it may be awarded within one year of advancing to candidacy.

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