The specialist degree (Russian: специалист) was the only first degree in the former Soviet Union, was traditionally inherited from the Engineering education of Russian empire, and currently is being phased out by the bakalavr's (Bachelor's) - magistr's (Master's) degrees.

In the early 1990s bakalavr (Bachelor's) and magistr (Master's) degrees were introduced in all the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States, except in Turkmenistan. However, the specialist degree remains the most often granted degree in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Ukraine to this day. The specialist degrees in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan were renamed to diplom degrees. Actually there are some similarities between the specialist degree in the CIS and the German Diplom degree.

The following are the most important specialist degrees in the CIS:

The Specialist degree is found in some programs of education or psychology and is awarded for study beyond the Master's degree but below the doctorate, (i.e., Ph.D., D.Ed. or Th.D.). It is most often referred to as an Ed.S. (Specialist of Education), or sometimes Sp.Ed.-- but can be designated in the form of SSP (Specialist of School Psychology), or Psy.S. (Specialist of Psychology). The College of Education at Eastern Michigan University and many other American institutions confer it as the "Sp.A" or "Specialist in Arts" degree.