Bachelor of Science designation

I live in Canada and I'm a little confused about the Bachelor of Science designation from a number of colleges. Usually I think of a BSc as having to do with science, like biology, chemistry, etc., but I see BSc in Business, Liberal Arts, etc. What's the difference between a BA and a BSc in Liberal Arts?

 

I live in the US and so my answer may have limited utility. When I first entered college you could earn a BA or a BS in many subject areas. Some only allowed for a BS (these were the hard sciences such as physics, biology, etc.) In the Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities (these divisions are clearly subjective) you could earn a BS (as opposed to a BA) by taking a higher number of courses within the major area of study. So, if you were an Anthropology major, for example, and you took a whole lot of Anth courses (instead of 101/201 courses from other areas) then you could earn a BS instead of a BA. In my day it was how you separated the serious students from the cruisers.
Jack
(please note: serious student = ticket to grad school)

 

Thanks for your reply. I forgot to mention that my question was referring to the US system since I am currently enrolled in Excelsior College. That's interesting that you say a BSc in a discipline would be more valued than a BA for grad school. At Excelsior, the only real difference in the degrees is that the BA allows less professional credit transfer and more distribution of arts credits. In that case, it seems to be just the opposite.

Bill

 

In many cases (but certainly not all) -- the use of BSc or BA relates to the distribution content of the program and not the subject. References below to "hours" refers to "semester hours".

In a typical BA program there will be a "general education requirement" of about 60 hours which includes a well distributed base of the liberal arts subjects regardless of major. This will include some math, history, science, lit., writing, more writing, language, etc... There will be a 40-60 hour "major" requirement and a 12-18 hour "minor" or cognate requirement. In effect, "a good all around post-secondary education.." not necesarily in "the arts".

A BSc program might include a similar 60 hour general education requirement but insist on more content from within the sciences and math than from the humanities (more math and less history). A person could get a BSc in Studio Art then under this model. He paints well, can count, and understands biology. Probably useful to a medical illustrator.

In contrast, the Bachelor of Applied Science might only require a 45 hour "general education requirement" with the remaining hours in the content of the major. The BAS also might imply more time spent "hands on" vs "thinking about it". Often, there is only a 25% or so upper level requirement.

Then there is the BFA (fine arts) [and variations such as BM (BMus)] which might model similar to the BAS but concentrate in one of the fine or applied arts such as theater or music. It might require 30-45 hours of general education requirement and the remainder in the specific major area of study (say 90 hours of studio art with well over half in upper level). It often requires a demanding final project such as an art exhibition or theater production or compilation of poetry or a piano recital. It is clearly a preparation to deliver "art".

And I've seen a pretty cool model for a BASc (Bachelor of Arts and Science) which required 120 hours of liberal arts and science with well over half at "upper level" and no major at all....

The Bachelor of something is often modeled after the fine arts scheme I offered above. Where there is a 30 hour general education requirement and 90 hours (or more) of major specific or closely related content with well over half at the upper level. It too often requires some research project or field experience in order to complete. Education, Business, and pre-professional come to mind here -- programs such as the BArch or BAcct. Some of these also require 60 hour "core education" and simply add the other 90 hours in major to the program total -- creating 5-6 year (150-160 hour) "professional" undergraduate programs.

Of course, these are not standardized and can be very different and differing colleges. In my experience, they seem to be fairly constant.

Whether the BA has more immediate prestige than the BSc depends entirely upon the field of study. In some fields it's immaterial -- in some there are certain expectations. I think that the population in general expects a scientist or business person to have a degree that says "science" or "business" in it somewhere... Graduate program administrators understand that it's the content of the undergraduate preparation and not the title of the degree that matters most. That's why they ask for a copy of transcripts and not a copy of the diploma...

 

I am not an expert in educational degrees, however, I have noted that within a particular field both a BA and a BS (MS or MS) may be offered. One seems to focus on the artistic aspect of the specialty (policy design, management, or organizational psychology) vs the scientific aspect (statistical expertise, clinical expertise, accounting expertise).

I'm sure we have some experts in this field among us. I would love to know more about this. I wonder if the nature of the coursework comes into play when a school applies for degree-granting status. Does each degree need to be approved or reviewed separately or can the school continue to grow and add degrees on their own, once they have achieved the first approval.

 

Hi Deb,

Typically, a school must apply for both internal (i.e. curriculum committee) and external (i.e. the accrediting agency) before they offer a degree.

There is no universal difference between a BA and BS or between an MA and MS. The university decides which degree it will offer based, usually on past practice (what degree titles they currently offer). Thus, some universities will offer a Master of Arts in psychology, while others offer a Master of Science.

The same thing occurs in the field of education. Some universities award the PhD in education, while others award the EdD. The idea that the PhD is a "research" degree while the EdD is a "professional" or "practical" degree is not supported by current research and practice.

Where things get interesting is when a department offers both a BA and BS in the same subject. If the field is a "hard science", then the BS is typically requires more math and science courses, while the BA requires more liberal studies. In this case, the BS would be designed to be the better preparation for graduate studies in that area (e.g. a BS in chemistry prepares for an MS/PhD in chemistry, while a BA in chemistry would be better for someone planning graduate work in another field). In areas outside the hard sciences the distinctions between the BA and BS are far less clear.

Years ago, I did a study of the requirements for masters degrees in my field (instructional technology). I had hypothesized that MA programs would require a thesis, MS programs would require an applied project and MEd would require exams or coursework only. I was wrong on all three counts. I found plenty of MEd programs that required theses, while many MA or MS programs required only the completion of coursework. Many offere the option to do other a research thesis or take additional coursework and complete a project (which is what I did). Each school and program set its own criteria.

Tony Pina
Northeastern Illinois University