Grammar – Can You Say ‘Study a Degree’?

A Google Books search returns three confirmable matches for "study a degree " in the sense of "study for a degree"—all of them from 2005 or later. From Rosa M. Ros, "Astronomy and Mathematics," in Jay Pasachoff & John Percy, Education, Teaching and Learning Astronomy: Effective Strategies for Educators (Cambridge University Press, 2005):

To educate society in astronomy it is necessary to teach astronomy at primary and secondary school. Students may then decide to study astronomy at university. It is hard to imagine students deciding to study a degree in a topic that they do not know.

From Tony Purvis, Get Set for Media and Cultural Studies (Edinburgh University Press, 2006):

Identity is central to the study of most academic disciplines in universities. Th existence of areas of study such as English, biology, geography or Chinese indicates something of the importance of 'identity' to undergraduate study in the university. When embarking on a course of study, much is assumed, and often has to be assumed for strategic purposes, about the identity of the object being studied. The opening chapters of this book, for instance, begin to explore what it means to study a degree whose identity is media and culture. But we can extend the discussion of identity a little further by beginning to ask some questions about identity and identities.

And from Sabine Krajewski, The Next Buddha May Be a Community: Practising Intercultural Competence at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2011):

If postgraduate students who choose to study a degree in International Communication encounter these problems, what does this mean for diverse student groups in other subjects? If it is so difficult to access intercultural communication in a class where awareness and knowledge of theories is a given, where everyone brings in some previous experience and skills in intercultural communication, how can universities equip all students, regardless of their field of study, with the intercultural skills graduates need and are expected to have in a rapidly globalizing world?

The phrase "studied a degree" returns no confirmable relevant matches, but "studying a degree" returns six matches for "studying a degree" and three more for what may be the origin of that phrase, "studying for a degree course." The instances of the latter are interesting in that they suggest that the divergence from normal usage involves not the omission of the preposition for, but the use of studying in place of, say, taking.

Consider this instance from Your Professional Qualification: A Guide to Professional Qualifications in the UK– Where They Lead & How to Get Them (Kogan Page Ltd [UK], 2002):

Student: Student members are studying a degree- or postgraduate-level course in Landscape Architecture at one of the universities with courses accredited by the Institute.

Here the full implied form of the expression that yields the string "studying a degree" is "studying a degree-level course." In U.S. English, a more normal way to express the same idea might be "taking a undergraduate-level course."

The phrase also occurs in Alasdair Forsyth & Andy ‎Furlong, Losing Out?: Socioeconomic Disadvantage and Experience in Further and Higher Education (Policy Press [UK], 2003):

"I was doing the HND. Before I left school I didn't realise I was going to come away with as many Highers as I did, so I just applied – I didn't apply for any university courses, I just applied for college. And so once I got there and I realised that I had enough Highers to get me into a university course, I didn't really have as much heart in it {HND} as I thought I would, so I just sort of left at that." (Eleanor, 'returner' {now studying a Degree course})

And in Rhena Branch, Mike Bryant & Kate Burton, Personal Development All-In-One For Dummies (2011):

You're studying a degree course and you fail one module. All-or-nothing thinking makes you decide that the whole endeavour is pointless. Either you get the course totally right or it's just a write-off.

Although the "for Dummies" publishing empire originated in the United States, this book seems to have been written by British authors, to judge from its use of British variant spellings such as endeavour and from the fact that its named editor was Gillian Burn, "Founder and Principal of Health Circles Ltd"—a privately held company in Slough.

Matches for "studying a degree that dispense with the clarifying noun course go back to this double instance from Which Degree?, volume 5 (Haymarket Publishing [UK], 1985) [combined snippets]:

The 'why do you want to study this course' question will happen in every interview, so how are you going to field it convincingly? You might consider the options under the following headings:

• reasons for studying a degree

• course content and philosophy

• flexibility and structure

• assessment and teaching methods

Why study a degree?

You may be totally fascinated by a subject and cannot wait to start studying in depth. Probably you are not particularly worried about the career implications.

The remaining five matches were published during the period from 2006 to 2012. From Jennifer Ross, "Jean Cassou: Freedom to Compose in Captivity," in Nicole Thatcher & ‎Ethel Tolansky, Six Authors in Captivity: Literary Responses to the Occupation of France During World War II (Peter Lang [UK], 2006):

Cassou was born in 1897 in Bilbao, Spain. His mother was Spanish and his father came from the Béarn in France, of Mexican forebears. Throughout his life Cassou remained fiercely loyal to his Spanish origins, studying a degree in Spanish at the Sorbonne, developing a deep understanding of Spanish language and culture and forging friendships with the some of the best Spanish writers of the day.

From Jonathan Groucutt, Business Degree Success: A Practical Study Guide for Business Students at College and University (Palgrave Macmillan [UK], 2008):

I have placed particular emphasis of the word 'assume' in the title of this section for a particular reason. As stated in Chapter 2, I suggest that you adopt the mindset of someone in business while undertaking your business degree. I would equally suggest that a student studying a degree in music adopt the mindset of a composer and/or performer. Your real aim is to get under the skin of the subject.

From Kaye Kidd, They Say I'm Paranoid... and What About Schizophrenia?! (Chipmunka Publishing [UK], 2010):

I had danced myself silly at University, studying a degree in performing arts. I never really wanted to take part in any physical activity; I just became absorbed in reading and writing.

From Julia Dolowicz, Writing a UCAS Personal Statement in Seven Easy Steps (How To Books Ltd [UK], 2011):

Undergraduate A student currently studying a degree.

And from Simon Whaley, The Positively Productive Writer (Compass Books [UK], 2012):

The Open University runs creative writing courses, many of which begin in September. Study takes place using course materials, as well as through online tutor-group conferences. You may also be given the opportunity of corresponding online with other students on the course, or possibly even meeting up at one of the OU's 13 local centres dotted around the UK. Tackling each course can offer you points or credits, which you can then put towards studying a degree in a particular aspect of writing or any other subject.

Conclusions

The phrase "study a degree" may have arisen out of the longer phrase "study a degree-level course" rather than out of "study for a degree." All twelve related matches that a Google Books search turns up come from British publishers, which indicates that the expression has not yet made any appreciable headway in North America. The author of one of the cited texts teaches in Australia, so it's possible that the expression has gained a foothold there.

So, in answer to the posted question, published writers do indeed sometimes say "study [or more often, studying] a degree"—but not very frequently and not far from the UK. Whether the level of usage implied by the cited quotations qualifies as "common usage" is difficult for me to tell, but the phrase certainly appears to have become more common in the past fifteen years than it was in the fifteen years before that.