This article presents a study of 27 programs that award petroleum engineeri
ng degrees in 13 countries. It shows that in almost all cases their diploma
s are at least equivalent to the Bachelor of Science (BS) degree. Thus, the
only meaningful question to resolve is whether longer than 4-year programs
are equivalent to the Master of Science (MS) degree. While many of these p
rograms may compare favorably with the MS degree in terms of total semester
credit hours, they may not compare with its presumed depth and intellectua
l maturity. Individual program studies are warranted to resolve the issue.