In the discussion of academic and religious degrees, a great deal of hot air is expended on the questions of legality and legitimacy. This matter is in fact quite straightforward.

To take legality first; a degree is issued within a legal context. A degree-granting institution is usually required by law to disclose this context to the public. Any institution that will not state plainly the source of its legal right to grant degrees should be regarded with great suspicion.

In the majority of cases, the institution issuing the degree (which may be called a university, college, military academy, conservatoire, business school or some other name) will have been given express degree-granting powers, for example by a Royal Charter or an Act of the legislature in its favour. This is usual in respect of state universities and those which are part of a state system.

Private institutions that grant degrees will usually operate under a different legal system. In France, for example, government registered private institutions operate under a set of statutes that govern the activities of private providers of higher education and that are separate from those of state universities. Some states of the USA, notably California and Hawaii, have systems of licensing for private schools. In the USA, as established by several Federal Court cases, religious institutions are exempted from private school licensing in respect of the issuing of degrees in religious subjects. In certain countries, such as Ireland and Denmark, private institutions may issue degrees without any legal restriction. In some Latin American countries and also in Spain there exists a statutory exemption from regulation that applies to some degrees issued by private institutions. While the degrees of private institutions do not always form part of the state system of higher education, in general (where they are compliant with the law) they are legally-issued degrees and have exactly the same legal validity as other degrees issued in the same country.

Having dealt with legality of issue, there is then the matter of legality of use. Certain states of the USA have legislated to restrict the usage of degrees issued by particular institutions, although when these laws have been challenged in the courts they have generally been found to be unconstitutional. No state in the USA can prohibit the use of religious degrees issued lawfully in other states of the USA. In other countries there are various systems of regulation and approval of foreign degrees, particularly for the practice of the regulated professions and associated licensing.

The question of legitimacy is entirely one of subjective opinion, and this therefore produces the most heated level of debate. Since the growth of higher education, there has been constant competition between the graduates of the various universities. Sometimes the ensuing discussions point to genuine differences between degree programmes, but more often they are based on simple academic snobbery and prejudice. In situations of institutional insecurity, some will unfortunately seek to bolster their chosen institution by means of attacking others that are perceived to be inferior to it.

A diverse higher education sector reflects the diversity of humankind. It is both right and good that there should be higher education providers of vastly different character to choose between, and that their degrees should reflect status within their respective institutions rather than being a cookie-cutter product imposed by the mainstream academic establishment. This distinction depends upon degrees remaining marks of educational and professional standing, and not becoming mere credentials.