The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 plus 2 plus 4 letter word BACHELOR OF ARTS
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
B
A
C
H
E
L
O
R
O
F
A
R
T
S
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "A degree" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case a degree = bachelor of arts.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.