completing five years of college. This may be translated as "Engineer", however, its international academic equivalence depends on each country's educational system and can be compared to a six-year post-master's degree. Its award may imply obtaining a state licence to legally practice in the field or a professional certification outside the academic environment. Chile In Chile, the educational system does not strictly follow that of the United States. University education is structured in four cycles, as Licenciatura (bachelor's degree), Título Profesional (professional title), Magíster (master's degree) and Doctorado (doctorate or Ph.D). In this case, the engineer status is a general denomination for a person who has a professional title in engineering (Título Profesional en Ingeniería). The title is obtained after six years of study; in this way including a bachelor's degree in science, which is obtained after four years of study. As in other countries, students only need to obtain the bachelor's degree to enter a master's degree or doctoral program, which commonly take two and three years, respectively. Since a professional title will take six years of study, after obtaining this title the graduate can enroll directly into a doctoral degree. In this manner, the international academic equivalence of a professional title in Chile corresponds to a six-year post-master's degree. Mexico In Mexico, the educational system follows closely that of the United States. University education is structured in three cycles, as Licenciatura (bachelor's degree), Maestría (master's degree) and Doctorado (doctorate). The Ingeniero (Engineer) degree is awarded depending on the nature of the studies pursued. In order to be called an Engineer, one must have passed certain courses related to engineering and been awarded a professional credential (cédula profesional) that certifies him or her as an engineer. The graduate has different abilities and capabilities related to the nature of the title Engineer. In this case, having a professional credential (cédula profesional) in engineering allows you to undertake various engineering-only activities and certifies the ability of the engineer to exercise their profession. For engineering, completing all taught courses of a Licenciatura does not automatically award the graduate the title and licence of Ingeniero; for this, it depends on the name of the career and having the prefix Ingeniería attached to the name of the degree. It is the case that many people finish all courses in an engineering program, they obtain the diploma and title of Engineer and the professional credential,