According to the website Academic Aapparel, the earliest references to higher-education degrees are from the 12th century. At this time, there was just one type of academic degree students could obtain. In Italy, at the University of Bologna, such a degree was a doctor's degree. In France, at the University of Paris, the equivalent degree was a master's. In England, at the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford, degrees followed the French example and were master's.
In the 13th century, European universities introduced an additional type of degree to reflect a different stage of learning and ability. This was the bachelor's degree. A bachelor's degree was a recognition that a student had successfully studied for three or four years and was on the way to gaining the ultimate certification: A master's or doctor's degree. Most students went on to achieve a master's or doctor's degree. Only then could they become teachers at a university. The holder of a bachelor's degree was a student-teacher.
During the 13th century, there were two ways of addressing an academic who obtained a master's degree: Master or Doctor. In the 14th century, southern European universities began to make a distinction between these two. A student who studied arts or theology, for example, gained a master's. A student who studied civil law or canon law became a doctor. The degrees were still at the same level of academic achievement.
The development of the degree system in place today developed slowly from the 14th century to the 20th. Gradually, universities began to be institutions where students continued their studies and left for other occupations. They did not automatically take a master's degree and teach at university level. The bachelor's degree became an acknowledgment of academic achievement in its own right and not just a milestone on the way to a master's. Similar to tradition, the master's degree became a recognition of academic success in a specific field of research and study beyond a bachelor's degree. Ph.D.s and professorships, however, also appeared and reflected even higher levels of academic attainment.