What are double degrees??

[jenni_zh90]

I know that you can do double degrees at some universities, but I’m confused as to what that means?
Do you just do 2 degrees in the time of 1?
But does this affect how much you learn as opposed to just sticking to one degree at a time?
Can you apply for jobs that only need one of the degrees you have studied? Will this put you at a disadvantage compared to those who have only studied that one particular degree?

[jamonwindeyer]

Hey! So it is exactly what it sounds like, two degrees at once. They might complement each other or be completely different. Usually, it is done in an amount of time slightly longer than a single degree, but shorter than it would take doing each separately.

This will almost always mean you specialise a little less in each of the two degrees - You sacrifice depth for breadth. But, you definitely still get both qualifications.

You can definitely apply for jobs that only really capitalise on one of your degrees - The skills from the other could still be useful though, so it could actually put you at an ADVANTAGE, depending how you look at things! Matter of perspective I believe

[keltingmeith]

In a nutshell:

Offer the course of one degree, an entire year is essentially just electives. If you cut out all of those electives, then you can do two degrees in 4 years as opposed to 6.

You still study 4 units a semester, just like any other student, but half of your units are from degree A and the other from degree B.

There is some variations depending on the degrees in question, but the university website will let you know what those are (eg, most double degrees with engineering are 5 years, not 4, with an extra year of just engineering subjects, so the mix is more like 40:60 instead of 50:50)

Employers will never look down on you for doing a double degree - just because you earned your two degrees as a double, doesn't mean they're any "lesser" - you still have two degrees, and this is usually looked at more favorably.

EDIT: beaten by Jamon, left for the technical explanation.