Bachelor of Art Degree

Can't make up your mind about what course to take? A Bachelor of Art may just be the degree you are looking for.

Bachelor of Art degrees are undergraduate degrees conferred upon students successfully completing the required years of study in either the liberal arts or the sciences. Known by the initials, BA, Bachelor of Art degrees usually take three to four years in most countries, including the United States.

An enrolled student must choose his area of major study which will be his major subject in all his study years. Some institutions allow students to have a second major. In the US, students are given an overall rating for their BA degree with varying honors levels. In some countries like Canada, with four years of BA study, an honors designation may be earned through specified coursework and the completion of a dissertation. Graduates of BA may append the BA initials to their names.

In the US, the two basic undergraduate degrees are Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science, with identical 120 semester-hours requirement. The BA degree requires that a minimum number of credits should come from the liberal arts such as language, literature, and the humanities, among other subjects. For prospective students who cannot physically attend classes, BA courses are available online.

Graduates with Bachelor of Art degrees are predicted to have greater employability than high school graduates. They are also expected to earn more. Bachelor of Art graduates have this advantage because of their exposure to subjects that help build a well-rounded knowledge base.