Laurea

In Italy, the Iaurea is the main post-secondary academic degree.

The name arises from laureato, which literally means crowned with laurel; and, in this respect, Italian students often wear a laurel wreath right after their official graduation ceremony and sometimes during the graduation party.

Former status of the Laurea degree

Until very recently, lauree (plural for laurea) took longer to earn than undergraduate degrees elsewhere in Europe and North America. To earn a laurea, the student had to complete 4 to 6 years of university courses, and also complete a thesis, which in most cases required experimental work. Laureati are customarily addressed as dottore (for a man) or dottoressa (for a woman), i.e. "doctor".

Until the introduction of the Dottorato di ricerca (PhD-level education) in the mid-1980s, the laurea constituted the highest academic degree obtainable in Italy and allowed the holder to access the highest academic careers. Famous scientists Nobel prize winners such as for example Enrico Fermi, Emilio Segrè, Giulio Natta and Carlo Rubbia held a laurea as their highest degree. The reason is that the Italian laurea included high-level courses and thesis work which normally were sufficient to prepare for a career in research and academia.