A MRS Degree or M.R.S. Degree is a slang term in

North American English North American English (NAmE) encompasses the English language as spoken in both the United States and Canada. Because of their related histories and cultures, plus the similarities between the pronunciations (accents), vocabulary, and grammar ...

for when a young

woman A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or Adolescence, adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functi ...

attends

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

with the intention of finding a potential spouse, as opposed to pursuing academic achievement for a future career. The term derives from " Mrs.", a common honorific for married women, and its similarity to abbreviations for

academic degrees An academic degree is a qualification awarded to a student upon successful completion of a course of study in higher education, usually at a college or university. These institutions often offer degrees at various levels, usually divided into un ...

, such as "M.S." for a

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

. It is a faux

acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...

, as it does not stand for anything individually even though its letters are pronounced individually when spoken aloud. The earliest use of the term was in 1860, but the term "MRS degree" was most commonly used during the mid 20th century in North America, a period of time when higher education became more accessible, yet the possibilities for women were still very limited.A similar concept exists in Spanish: taking an EMMC course (another faux acronym meaning "estudio mientras me caso", "I study while I get married").

References

Academic degrees Criticism of academia Dysphemisms Feminism and history Pejorative terms for women History of women in the United States 20th century in women's history Women's education in the United States {{Women-hist-stub

See also

References