A bachelor’s degree is awarded after completing four to five years of full-time study at a college or university. A bachelor’s degree program can take several additional years to complete if you attend part-time. There are more than a dozen different bachelor’s degree programs, but the most common are the Bachelor of Arts (BA) and Bachelor of Science (BS).
As the name suggests, a Bachelor of Arts requires coursework in the arts. You can expect to take courses in areas such as music, fine arts, humanities, and social science. A Bachelor of Science degree requires coursework mainly in the sciences. You can expect to take courses in the areas of physical sciences, mathematical sciences, and life sciences. Other degrees are more specific and include:
- -Bachelor of Architecture – BArch
- -Bachelor of Applied Science – BASc
- -Bachelor of Business Administration – BBA
- -BComm – Bachelor of Commerce – BComm
- -BCompSc – Bachelor of Computer Science – BCompSc
- -BD – Bachelor of Divinity – BD
- -BDes – Bachelor of Design – BDes
- -Bachelor of Education – BEd
- -Bachelor of Engineering – BEng or BE
- -Bachelor of Fine Arts – BFA
- -Bachelor of Mathematics – BMath
- -Bachelor of Music – BMus
- -Bachelor of Pharmacy – Bpharm
- -Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering – BSEE
- -Bachelor of Science in Forestry – BSF
- -Bachelor of Technology – Btech
- -Bachelor of Laws- LLB
Some degrees such as the Bachelor of Mathematics and the Bachelor of Laws are also the names of a postgraduate degree in some colleges and universities.
Bachelor’s Degree Earning Potential
A bachelor’s degree offers nearly double the lifetime earning potential than a high school diploma. High school graduates can expect to average $1.2 million during their lifetime. Bachelor’s degree holders can expect to earn an average of $2.1 million. For more information about how a degree can affect your earning potential, read The Big Payoff: Educational Attainment and Synthetic Estimates of Work-Life Earnings by the U.S. Census Bureau.
