BA vs. BS: What the Degree Type Actually Means

At a lot of schools, majors like psychology, economics, or computer science offer both a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Science option, which confuses plenty of students into thinking one version is more rigorous or more respected than the other. That's generally not the distinction. The real difference is how your schedule is built, not how seriously the degree is taken.

The short answer

A BA typically requires more coursework outside your major, spread across humanities, social sciences, and the arts, often including a foreign language requirement, leaving more room for electives and a minor. A BS typically requires more coursework specifically within your major, more math, more lab science, less room for unrelated electives. Both are four-year degrees requiring roughly the same total credits, the difference is in how those credits are distributed, not how many of them there are.

Where the BA path leans

A BA program leans toward breadth: distributional requirements across multiple academic areas, often a language requirement, and generally more space in your schedule for a minor, a second major, or a wider range of electives. Coursework tends to emphasize critical thinking, writing, and interpretation, developed through the added breadth requirements, on top of whatever the major itself covers.

Where the BS path leans

A BS program leans toward depth within the field: more required coursework specifically tied to the major, typically including additional math and laboratory science requirements, and less room left over for unrelated electives. This is why BS versions of a major are common in more technical or science-heavy fields, and why a major like psychology might offer a BS track focused more on the biological and statistical side of the field, alongside a BA track with more flexibility.

Does it actually matter which one you pick?

For most jobs and most graduate programs, the specific degree letters matter far less than the coursework and skills behind them, and a growing share of employers report focusing on skills over specific credentials in entry-level hiring. Where it can matter more is in fields with formal prerequisite expectations for graduate study or professional licensure; a BS with more required lab science, for example, may line up better with certain health-related graduate programs than a BA in the same subject would. If you're eyeing a specific graduate program or licensure path, it's worth checking that program's prerequisite expectations directly rather than assuming the degree letters alone will satisfy them.

It's also worth knowing this isn't standardized across schools. One university's BS in psychology might require significantly more lab science than another school's BS in the exact same subject, since there's no single national rule dictating what separates the two degree types, each department sets its own requirements within general conventions. Two students with the same degree title from different schools may have taken meaningfully different coursework, which is one more reason the actual requirement sheet matters more than the two letters on the diploma.

How to decide if your major offers both

• Compare the actual requirement sheets for each track, not just the label, most departments publish both side by side.
• If you want more room for a minor, double major, or broad electives, the BA track usually gives you that room.
• If you want more depth and required coursework specifically within the field, especially math or lab science, the BS track usually delivers that.
• If you're already aiming at a specific graduate program or license, check that program's prerequisites directly rather than guessing from the degree type alone.

Neither version is the "serious" one, they're built for different schedules and different priorities. Browse a specific major's page and check with the department directly on whether both tracks are offered before assuming either way.