To become a licensed lawyer, a person must hold the Bachelor of Law ("Licenciado en Derecho") degree obtainable by four to five years of academic study and final examination. After these undergraduate studies it is possible to obtain a Magister degree ("Maestría degree"), equivalent to a Master's Degree. This degree requires two to three years of academic studies. Finally, one can study for an additional three years to obtain the "Doctor en Derecho degree", which is a research degree at doctoral level. Since most universities and law schools must have approval from the Secretariat of Public Education ("Secretaría de Educación Pública") through the General Office of Professions ("Dirección General de Profesiones") all of the academic programs are similar throughout the country in public and private law schools.