Half of them taking degree? That’s novel (4)
I believe the answer is:
emma
'novel' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'half of them taking degree?' is the wordplay.
'half of' suggests halving the letters.
'taking' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'degree?' becomes 'ma' (Master of Arts is a type of degree).
'them' cut in half is 'em'.
'em'+'ma'='EMMA'
'that's' is the link.
(Other definitions for emma that I've seen before include "novelist's work" , "Novel by June Austen" , "Jane Austen heroine" , "Lady Hamilton or Lady Thompson?" , "Madame Bovary, perhaps" .)