Many undergraduates with higher National Diploma or HND degrees often wonder if they can be admitted abroad with their certificates. When some of them hear that they can top up their certificate to a university degree, they get more excited.
What is your knowledge regarding HND top-up degrees in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom? In the United States, you do not need to top up your HND certificate.
What is a top-up degree?
A top-up degree is for students who have completed their HND programmeme and want to further their education by enrolling in the last year of an honours degree programmeme. This is applicable in the United Kingdom. An HND certification is valuable, and topping it up to complete a bachelor’s degree can help you advance your career more. We can say that a top-up degree is Level 6, or the final year of an undergraduate degree programme that helps students upgrade their HND degree to a bachelor’s degree.
The degree closes the gap between a Level 5 certificate and a Level 6 or complete bachelor’s degree. The United Kingdom undergraduate degree is typical, while a top-up degree allows you to enter the final year stage of your bachelor’s degree in a year or two to three years. This depends on the country in which you want to pursue your studies.
You are not allowed to do a top-up degree in another field of study, but you have to continue with the course you studied during your HND programme.
Canada
In Canada, you can use an HND top-up degree to obtain your bachelor’s degree. However, you should complete some courses within two or three years before you can earn your bachelor’s degree.
For instance, if you have an HND degree in Mechanical Engineering, you can continue with a 2nd or 3rd year Bachelor’s degree in an engineering programme in Canada. Students should understand that the year they join depends on the number of transfer credits accepted from their HND degree.
If you want a quick study with your HND, you can head to the United Kingdom, which allows you to finish within one academic year.
Masters in Canada with HND?
Canada does not accept HND graduates directly into its Master’s programme. However, you have two options to achieve this.
OPTION 1
You must convert your HND to a BSc degree in Canada via a top-up degree. You apply for an undergraduate programme to get your credit transferred to a bachelor’s degree. The university or college waives some of the courses you have studied in your country. You must join the same or related discipline as what you studied in your HND. Canada expects that you meet a minimum grade for each course that you want to waive. The number of years you spend to obtain your Bachelor’s degree depends on the number of courses waived for you and the number of courses you must undertake.
OPTION 2
You can pursue a post-HND degree in Canada. Since you cannot apply directly with your HND degree to a Masters programme, you can go for any of the following:
- Post-Degree Certificate/Diploma,
- Post-Graduate Diploma (PGD),
- Advanced Certificate in Canada.
Most Canadian universities offer PGD programmes for HND graduates, while some do not accept HND for their PGD programmes. You must do research before applying to any university offering a PGD programme in Canada.
Students with higher credit in their HND and post-qualification experience have better chances of using this programme.
An HND is a continuation of a National Diploma (ND), equivalent to an Associate Degree in Canada. According to the International Qualifications Assessment Service (IQAS), an HND generally compares to completing a three-year post-secondary Diploma.
To apply for a Master’s degree in Canada, you must send your transcripts to WES for evaluation. You can make your WES payment via the Pay4Me app. WES evaluates your HND and OND transcript and makes a decision.
The United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has an easier route for students with an HND certificate. Instead of spending two to three years in a top-up programme, you can spend at least one academic year obtaining a university degree.
This makes the UK a preferred route for students who want to convert their HND degrees to Bachelor’s degrees. You can spend another year pursuing a Master’s degree in the UK’s higher-ranked universities after your top-up programme.
Subjects suitable for one-year top-up in the United Kingdom include:
- Nursing, Physiotherapy, and Therapy
- Business, Economics, and Management
- Building Services Engineering
- Art and Design
- Information Technology
- Hospitality, Tourism, and Events Management
Before applying, you must check with the course to learn about its entry requirements. Not every university in the UK offers top-up courses in every subject.
In the UK, polytechnics have been discontinued. Polytechnics have been transmuted into universities in both name and curriculum. This means HND graduates still face discrimination in UK universities.
The United States of America
The United States is a safe landing for HND graduates. Why many HND graduates flock to the United States compared to the United Kingdom and Canada is simple. Here is a list of the reasons why the HND degree is ranked highly in the USA:
The country has no differences when it comes to polytechnic and university degrees. Polytechnics are names often associated with universities in the United States.
When you relocate with an HND to America, you will likely be regarded as someone with equivalent university degrees. HND graduates are not discriminated against here because of the country’s educational system.
The qualification you received was awarded after four years of your post-secondary education. This gives HND graduates an equal ranking with those in the country.
However, India has a different system from the United States. International students with an Indian degree are not accepted as the equivalent of a U.S. bachelor’s degree. This is because they completed their degrees in three years, especially in the social sciences and humanities. While an Indian Master’s degree is considered equivalent to a U.S. bachelor’s degree, making students.
Admission to graduate schools in any university in the United States is a multi-faceted process. You need an acceptable score in the Graduate Records Examination (GRE) for a better opportunity to gain admission into a graduate programme in the country. You have an added advantage when you have a good score on the GRE alongside a good HND result, compared to a first-class degree from a university with low GRE scores.
The United States welcomes more HND graduates than the United States. The country has no concept of the HND. Degrees awarded after two years of study earn an equivalent to an Ordinary National Diploma (OND) or, perhaps, British and Nigerian “A” levels.
Popular Top-up Degrees
- International Finance
- International Business & Management
- Finance and Law
- Design Engineering
- Global Media Practice
- Computer Animation
- Food and Hotel Services Management
- Tourism Management.
Advantages and disadvantages of the top-up degree programme
Advantages
- It allows students to relocate to new countries abroad.
- Top-up degree programmes have received international accreditation.
- It enables the students to decide where they want themselves to be located at the time of studying for their top-up degree.
Disadvantages
- A top-up degree cannot be an alternative to an honours degree.
- Quite a few universities offer a facility for credit transfers.
- If a content-based course is not aligned with the top-up course, problems can arise.
Entry requirements for a top-up degree course
- You must have a Foundation degree programme from a recognised institute
- A relevant BA Hons degree from an accredited university
- An HND degree from a recognised college or university
- If your mother tongue is not English, you must prove your language skills to be equal to IELTS 6.0.
