Note 495 — Chapter XXI · UNIVERSITIES AND STUDENT LIFE
Reading edition
The earliest degrees granted at Bologna, Paris, etc., were those of master of arts and doctor of philosophy. "Master" and "Doctor" were practically equivalent terms and both signified simply that the bearer, after suitable examinations, had been recognized as sufficiently proficient to be admitted to the guild of teachers. The bachelor's degree grew up more obscurely. It might be taken somewhere on the road to the master's degree, but was merely an incidental stamp of proficiency up to a certain stage of advancement. Throughout mediæval times the master's, or doctor's, degree, which carried the right to become a teacher, was the normal goal and few stopped short of its attainment.