lower-degree holder是什么意思,我知道degree holder网友解释为学位持有人,可是更低的学位持

lower-degree holder是什么意思,我知道degree holder网友解释为学位持有人,可是更低的学位持有人是什么
应该怎么翻译更好呢?原文是Two of his sons (one of them a Qing lower-degree holder) also at different times headed the office of financial administration within the county government,and one of them later successively headed the county militia force,joined the Guomin-dang (GMD) county committee,and in 1930 acted as county magistrate.