"Students" are guaranteed to get a B.A. after completing a specified number of credit-hours in a course of study. There is no such guarantee for a Masters degree (or a PhD or any degree beyond B...).

The "candidate" must pass through the "whim" (pretty much) of a single person (a professor) giving an "oral exam" or someone reading a dissertation - an item of original research or discovery or idea.)

The person is a "candidate" for membership in the academic world, and not a member of just the "professional" world (going out and getting an average job) and the exam or dissertation proves ones worthiness of membership in the academic world.

I know it sounds cynical, but "higher education" has become a form of big business in modern times; "student" implies a desire to learn, while "candidate" suggests the focus is simply on getting that "all important" certificate.

I believe this comes from the PhD programs. Typically, there is test or some other big final that you are preparing to take. When you are preparing to defend your disertation in a PhD program, you are saying that someone has determined that you are a candidate to take the test/defend it.

I think it's up to the school to determine when that point is.

I've never heard of an MBA program doing this, but I wouldn't be surprised.

Here is a list of all the games you can play:

SWORDFIGHTING

Duel one-on-one or send yer crew to sea for huge multiplayer boarding battles! Build blocks of color and shatter them with matching breaker pieces to send an onslaught of silver swords slashing through your opponent's board! Outlast your foe and use his own attacks against him!

TREASURE DROP

Plunk down yer coin at the top of the board and watch it trip and catch switches all the way down! But now you've cleared a path for yer opponent! Balance yer play between board setup and cashing in, and you'll soon be cashing out a pile of plunder!

POKER

Whether with blades and guts on the waves, or cards and bluster on the table, a pirate loves to gamble. And what better poker than true Hold 'Em? Accurate to the felt, but piratey to the core, any aficionado would happily while away the hours with a deck and a rum!

HEARTS

The centuries-old game of not getting points takes new meaning when played for wagers of treasure with cutthroat pirates! Of course, ye could always play a friendly game fer points instead of plunder. But many's the quick chap who lives off his winnings from drunken scallywags!

SPADES

Partners bid their target tricks and claim their points if they succeed. But the greedy pirate who takes tricks beyond his bid will raise the ire of his partner for their penalties! From friendly games to high-stakes wagers, there's a match for all comers, and cash for the savvy!

RUMBLE

Master the art of melee fighting! Engage in fisticuffs with yer maties or rumble against them scurvy dog Barbarians! Cluster colored balls to send attacks to yer opponent! Try saving up charged combos for a strike!

DRINKING

Up to six rowdy players can sit together and drown on land at the drinking table. Place yer mugs in turn, matching color or shape, to claim rows. Clear away finished rows and keep at the bottle till the table's stained with drink or all hands are too drunk to move!

Games on a ship:

SAILING

Pieces fall from the top in classic style, and yer simple task is to catch them into the right targets. But the true fun, and skill, of a sailor is to build towering sets of blocks awaiting just the right one to set off a chain reaction of clears and combos all the way down the board. Send yer ship skipping over the waves!

CAPENTRY

Use yer packing skills to fit the five-block pieces into the holes as snugly as ye can! Match the wood grain for better scores, and complete successive perfect holes to keep yer vessel ship-shape! Carpentry is classic and simple to learn but deep and strategic for long voyages at the boards!

BILGE

Yer tried-and-true bilgerat will tell ye that bilge is really a soothing, relaxing game of simple clears and flowing patterns. So forget yer landlubber world and lose yerself in the watery rhythm of swapping and clearing. Join the navy and play in peace as long as you like, or hop aboard a player ship and bilge yer way to pirate gold!

GUNNERY

The shipdeck itself is yer board, as cannonballs, gunpowder, wadding and water splash and roll across the planks. Set a path to guide them into the cannon - in the right order! And no sooner are they loaded than the captain orders a broadside and you're washing, loading and firing again! Booom!

SEA BATTLE

The true test of a captain comes on the high sea, managing her crew, running down her prey and trading shot for shot in the elite strategic arena of Sea Battle! Yer crew's performance at their own puzzles provide the pieces for yours as you hunt and plunder merchants, navy, and even yer fellow pirates!