Bachelor of Arts
Is a Bachelor of Arts degree right for you? One of the concerns of an incoming college freshman is what courses to take and what degree to work towards. Sometimes, there is not enough available information especially on the distinction between a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Arts degree. In this article, the important aspects of a Bachelor of Arts degree will be discussed in order to enable graduating high school students to decide if the BA degree is right for them or not.
Bachelor of Arts (in Latin, “artium baccalaureus”) is an undergraduate degree conferred on a person who has completed studies in the field of liberal arts or the humanities. A Bachelor of Arts may be distinguished from Bachelor of Science on the areas of their concentration. While a BS student may focus on the processes that make up the sciences, a BA student may question what the need for those sciences is.
The general BA degree program allows concentration in one discipline as well as a selection of other courses, usually in the form of electives. Many colleges and universities offer a Bachelor of Arts program that has a number of degree options. BA students can design their own curriculum to suit their individual needs. More and more students seeking to go to college enroll in a BA degree course due to its flexibility, which comes in handy especially when a student is still undecided.
In many colleges and universities, a Bachelor of Arts degree equips its students with the values of critical thinking, problem solving and researching. Many experts even suggest that there are more BA degree holders who pursue further studies than there are BS degree holders. Because of their exposure to diverse areas of study, BA graduates are expected to be able to deal with the pressure of jobs in the real world.
Like the Bachelor of Science, the Bachelor of Arts usually requires a study of three to four years. The number of years is not exclusive, however, and is computed depending on the credit hours. If a student enrolls in more subjects than other students pursuing the same degree, or what is colloquially known as “overloading” of subjects, he or she can expect to finish the requirements and be conferred the BA degree in less than the number of years his field of specialization calls for. The reverse is true, too. If he “underloads” or lags behind because of failing marks, then he is expected to graduate in more than the standard number of years. There are some colleges and universities that implement a maximum residency requirement depending on the standard number of years of the field of specialization.
There are many fields of specialization a BA student can focus on. The most common majors are English literature, communication arts, humanities, history, philosophy and political science. Some BA degree holders go on to pursue a law degree in order to practice in the legal profession.
Because of the flexibility involved in pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree, it is imperative that, when deciding what field to specialize in, a student considers what his interests and his strengths and skills are. Only then will he or she be able to make an informed decision with regards to whether or not the Bachelor of Arts is the right degree to pursue.
