in nature between the licentia on the one hand and the bachelor, master and doctor degrees on the other began to fade. In the continental European universities the licentia became an academic degree intermediate between the bachelor's degree on the one hand and the master's or doctor's degree on the other, in particular in the higher faculties. Moreover, the costs for obtaining the doctorate could be significant. As a result, most students not intending an academic career would forgo the doctorate, and as a result the licentiate became the common final degree. Notable exceptions to this development were the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and the universities modelled after them. As their locations were not the seats of bishops, the granting of the licentia docendi was by proxy, and its significance faded away. Regional variations Argentina In Argentina, the Licentiate degree (Spanish: Licenciatura), by which one becomes a licenciado, is a four to six-year degree with a required final thesis defence. Upon competition of the licentiate degree the student may be eligible to apply for a postgraduate degree such as a master or doctorate. Australia Currently the only institutions in Australia to grant licentiates, apart from theological colleges, are the Australian Music Examinations Board and St Cecilia School of Music, which confer licentiate diplomas. The status of this award is similar to that of an Australian diploma—currently one year of post-secondary education—and so it is a lesser award than a degree, although this award can usually take two or more years to complete due to its high standard. Similarly, for theological colleges in former times, the licentiate was a specific post graduate award, analogous to a current graduate diploma. It was used specifically because some theological colleges did not enjoy university status, and could not award degrees such as baccalaureates, masters and doctorates. Though this was never the case in Catholic Colleges where the Licentiate cannot be earned until one has completed 7 years of study (5 for the baccalaureate and 2 for the licentiate). In such an instance, it sits well above the level of graduate diploma between that of master's and doctorate. The Catholic Institute of Sydney is a Pontifical Faculty and as such offers the Licentiate of Sacred Theology which ranks above a master's degree and can only be earned after seven years of study (five years for the S.T.B.; two years for the S.T.L.). The licentiate