undergraduate

[uhn-der-graj-oo-it, -eyt]

noun

1. a student in a university or college who has not received a first, especially a bachelor's, degree.

adjective

1. having the standing of an undergraduate.

2. of, for, pertaining to, or characteristic of undergraduates.

undergraduate

/ ˌʌndəˈɡrædjʊɪt /

noun

1. Sometimes shortened to: undergrad. a person studying in a university for a first degree

Other Word Forms

• undergraduateship noun
• nonundergraduate noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of undergraduate¹

First recorded in 1620–30; under- + graduate

Example Sentences

She also has $30,000 in debt from her daughter’s undergraduate degree in biology, which has yet to yield any job offers in a tough labor market for new graduates.

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He received his undergraduate degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his Ph.D. from Harvard.

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“I think I speak on behalf of the student body when we say we vehemently oppose this raise in tuition,” said Tommy Contreras, the undergraduate student government’s internal vice president at UCLA.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The project brought together graduate students, undergraduate students, and recent alumni from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, along with collaborators from France and the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center's Hawaiian Monk Seal Research Program.

Read more on Science Daily

In 2021 — after years of debate, protest and delay — UC raised tuition and introduced a program to lock in costs for undergraduates tied to the year they first enrolled.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• freshman 
• junior 
• senior 
• sophomore 
• student