Madness In My Method

Grade school (for Americans) goes from grades Pre-K through 12, but they are broken up into Pre-K/Kindergarten, Elementary, Middle/Junior High, and High Schools, and of course there's always arguments over whether Pre-K and K are inclusive in that structure. For someone bypassing High School, but still wishing to have a diploma, there's the GED.

College is similarly broken up into almost equivalent levels. Here's the "typical" progression:

2 yr associates degree from a Junior College (usually bypassed in favor of going straight for a bachelor's degree)
*if someone gets an associates, most of those 2 yrs of courses can be transferred and applied toward the bachelor's
4 yr bachelor's degree from an Undergrad College
2-4 yr master's degree from a Graduate College
2-4 yr doctoral degree from a Graduate College

So if you think about it, they are like these equivalents:
associates degree = Prek-K/Kindergarten - can be bypassed
bachelor's degree = elementary
master's degree = middle school
doctoral degree = high school

Trade schools offer degrees/certifications that, to the college world, is similar to a what a GED is to the the grade school diploma.