Bachelor of Arts vs Bachelor of Science: What Actually Differs, and What Does Not
A BA and a BS are the same length, the same credit total and the same academic level. The difference is the mix of courses around your major: a BA is broader, a BS is more technical. Here is how to choose.
A Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Science are the same length, the same credit total and the same academic level. Both are 120 semester credits and four years full-time. Neither outranks the other.
What differs is the mix of courses around your major. A BA carries more humanities, languages and free electives. A BS carries more mathematics, laboratory science and technical coursework in the subject itself.
Key takeaways
- Same duration, same credits, same level. One is not harder than the other.
- A BS is typically 60 to 70 per cent major and technical coursework.
- A BA is typically 40 to 50 per cent major, leaving far more room for electives, a minor or a second language.
- The same subject is offered as both at many universities. Psychology and economics are the classic examples.
- Employers overwhelmingly care about your major, your skills and your experience. The two letters rarely come up.
This is one of the most anxiety-inducing choices in an undergraduate application, and most of the anxiety is misplaced. Students worry they are picking a tier. They are not. They are picking a distribution of coursework, and in the great majority of cases they can change it after arriving.
The distinction is also older and stranger than it looks. It descends from a medieval European division between the artes liberales, the broad liberal arts thought to prepare a free citizen for public life, and the later natural philosophy tradition that became modern science. That history explains why the categories map so badly onto contemporary subjects, and why the same degree in the same subject can carry either label depending on which university you attend.
What actually changes: the credit distribution
Both degrees total 120 credits. The difference is where those credits are spent. A representative split looks like this, though every institution sets its own.
| Component | Bachelor of Arts | Bachelor of Science |
|---|---|---|
| Major coursework | 36 to 45 credits | 50 to 70 credits |
| Mathematics and statistics | 1 course, often the minimum | 2 to 4 courses, calculus common |
| Laboratory science | 1 to 2 courses | 3 to 6 courses |
| Foreign language | Frequently required, up to intermediate | Rarely required |
| Humanities and social science | Broader requirement | Narrower requirement |
| Free electives | 30 to 40 credits | 15 to 25 credits |
Read the last row again, because it is the one that changes your actual experience of university. A BA typically leaves you fifteen to twenty free courses. A BS may leave you six or seven. Those free credits are what a minor, a second major, a study abroad term or a serious language commitment are built from.
So the honest framing is not “which is more rigorous”. It is depth versus breadth. A BS goes further into one subject. A BA goes less far into that subject and further into everything else. Which of those is better depends entirely on what you want to be able to do at the end.
The same subject, both ways
Plenty of subjects are offered as both, and comparing them side by side is the clearest way to see what the labels mean in practice.
| Subject | BA emphasises | BS emphasises |
|---|---|---|
| Psychology | Social, developmental and clinical theory; qualitative work | Research methods, statistics, neuroscience, laboratory work |
| Economics | Economic history, policy, political economy | Econometrics, calculus, mathematical modelling |
| Computer science | More electives; pairs well with design, linguistics or business | Deeper systems, theory, mathematics; often ABET-aligned |
| Biology | Suits science communication, policy, teaching | Full laboratory sequence; the standard pre-medical route |
| Mathematics | Broad, often paired with teaching or another field | Deeper proof and analysis sequence |
| Communication | Theory, rhetoric, media studies | Quantitative audience research, data analysis |
Psychology is the most instructive case. A BA in psychology and a BS in psychology are both real psychology degrees. But if you intend to apply to a research-focused graduate programme, the BS route usually delivers the statistics and methods coursework that admissions committees look for, and doing it later costs an extra year. If you intend to work in social services, teaching or human resources, the BA’s extra electives are more useful than a second statistics course would have been.
When the choice genuinely matters
For most students, most of the time, it does not matter much. There are specific situations where it does, and they are worth knowing before you commit.
- Professional licensure and accreditation. Engineering programmes accredited by bodies such as ABET are almost always BS degrees, and some professional registration routes require an accredited degree specifically. Check the accreditor, not the letters.
- Graduate school prerequisites. A research master’s or PhD in a quantitative field will expect statistics, methods and often calculus. The BS route usually builds these in; the BA route usually does not.
- Medical, dental and veterinary school. These do not require a BS. They require specific prerequisite courses, typically two semesters each of biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry and physics with laboratories. You can complete those inside a BA if you plan for them from your first year.
- Skilled worker visas. Some immigration routes score technical degrees differently. If you are studying abroad and intend to work in the country afterwards, check the specific rules.
- Teaching licensure. Requirements are set by state or national authorities and sometimes name the degree type explicitly.
What employers actually look at
Recruiters read a curriculum vitae in a few seconds, and in that time they are looking for the subject, the institution, the classification and what you have actually done. The two letters before the subject are close to invisible.
What does get read is evidence: internships, projects, a portfolio, a dissertation topic, tools you can use. A BA graduate with two relevant internships and a strong project will be preferred over a BS graduate with neither, in almost every field that is not legally gated.
The exception is the legally gated fields, and it is a real exception. Engineering, architecture, nursing, accountancy and similar professions have registration bodies that do care about the exact accredited programme. In those fields the qualification is a licence prerequisite rather than a signal, and the rules are not negotiable.
Salary: what the data does and does not say
You will find claims that BS holders earn more. Taken at face value that is usually true in aggregate, and it is also close to meaningless as a guide for your decision.
The reason is composition. BS degrees cluster in engineering, computer science and nursing. BA degrees cluster in humanities, communication and social sciences. The salary gap you are looking at is a gap between fields, not between two ways of studying the same field. A BA and a BS in the same subject at the same university typically lead to very similar earnings.
If you are choosing between a BA and a BS in computer science, the earnings difference is small. If you are choosing between a BA in history and a BS in computer science, you are choosing a field, and the letters are the least important part of that decision.
Can you switch after you start?
At most universities, yes, and more easily than students expect. Because the first year is dominated by general education requirements common to both, switching in your first or second year usually costs little or nothing.
Switching later is where it gets expensive, and the direction matters. Moving from BS to BA is normally straightforward, because you have already done the harder technical sequence and the surplus becomes electives. Moving from BA to BS in your third year can add a full year, because mathematics and laboratory sequences are strictly ordered and you cannot take calculus II and calculus III at the same time.
Outside the United States
The distinction is largely a North American one. In the UK, Australia and much of the Commonwealth, BA and BSc labels exist but follow the subject almost automatically: history is a BA, chemistry a BSc, and there is rarely a choice to make. Students specialise before they arrive, so the degree does not contain a wide general-education component that could be weighted one way or the other.
Under the European Bologna framework, degrees are described by field and by ECTS credits rather than by an arts or science label, and in Francophone systems the licence serves the same function. If you are applying internationally, expect the receiving institution to look at your transcript and your credits rather than at the two letters.
For the credit arithmetic underlying both degrees, see how a degree is structured. If you are still choosing a subject at all, our careers and courses section covers what different fields lead to.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a BA and a BS?
Both are 120-credit, four-year bachelor’s degrees at the same academic level. A BS devotes more credits to the major plus mathematics and laboratory science. A BA devotes fewer credits to the major and more to humanities, languages and free electives.
Is a BS harder than a BA?
No. A BS is more technically concentrated, a BA is broader. Which feels harder depends on your strengths. Neither is ranked above the other, and both are full bachelor’s degrees.
Which pays more, a BA or a BS?
In aggregate BS holders earn more, but that reflects the fields BS degrees cluster in, such as engineering and computer science, rather than the label itself. A BA and a BS in the same subject at the same institution lead to broadly similar earnings.
Can I go to medical school with a BA?
Yes. Medical schools require specific prerequisite courses, typically two semesters each of biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry and physics with laboratories, rather than a particular degree type. Plan those into a BA from your first year.
Can I switch from a BA to a BS?
Usually yes, and it is easiest in your first or second year while you are still completing shared general education requirements. Switching from BA to BS later can add a year, because mathematics and laboratory sequences must be taken in order.
Do employers care whether it is a BA or a BS?
Rarely. Most employers look at the subject, the institution and your experience. The exceptions are licensed professions such as engineering, nursing and architecture, where a specific accredited programme is a registration requirement.