However, in the United States, most first professional degrees are considered graduate programs by the U.S. Department of Education and require students to already possess an undergraduate degree before admission.raduate degrees in Brazil are called postgraduate degrees, and can be taken only after a 4-6 year long bachelor's degree. 1  Lato sensu graduate degrees: degrees that represent a specialization in a certain area, and take from 1 to 2 years to complete.