Is Doctor of Science equivalent to Doctor of Philosophy or higher than that?
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In the United States, the Doctor of Science is a doctoral degree equivalent to the Ph.D.. The first North American Sc.D. was inaugurated by Harvard University in 1872 – when graduate studies first began at Harvard and the Ph.D. degree first introduced there [1]. The Doctor of Science degree is earned with the approval of a committee on the basis of original research, publications, and is awarded predominantly in doctoral level science programs such as engineering, information systems, and medical and health sciences, and nero and health economics.
Although much rarer than the Doctor of Philosophy, the Doctor of Science degree has long been awarded by institutions such as Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Washington University in St. Louis, The George Washington University, Boston University, and Queen’s University.
In effort to standardize doctoral degree conferral at these large research institutions, the Ph.D. has replaced Sc.D. For instance, the doctoral degree in biostatistics at Harvard has recently been changed from Sc.D. to Ph.D. – even though the degree structure and requirements have remained identical. As well, doctoral programs at Johns Hopkins University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology that offer the Sc.D degree also offer the Ph.D. degree – and requirements for obtaining the two degrees are identical. Currently, doctoral-level research programs that offer the Sc.D. but not the Ph.D. degree include several doctoral programs at Harvard University and Boston University, as well as the engineering programs at the Washington University in St. Louis and The George Washington University.
This is taken from the Doctor of Science page on Wikipedia.
