The facts behind the degrees

Students majoring in art may receive a bachelor of science degree. A chemistry major could be presented with a bachelor of arts degree.

Confused yet? It’s not so bad once you get the facts.

Utah State University offers five types of bachelor’s degrees, two associates degrees and multiple certificate options.

It is important for students to decide on not only their major, but what degree they are working toward as well.

“There are a few majors where you can only get one or the other, but most of the time you can get both,” Heidi Beck, the associate registrar, said.

Students must fulfill not only departmental requirements for their major and possibly a minor, but they must also fulfill the requirements for the degree. If they fail to keep track of the major, minor and degree requirements, students may be surprised by having to take a few last minute classes or scrounging up credits from somewhere in order to graduate on time.

“When students are admitted into the university, they are admitted in into the bachelor of science degree,” Beck said, “The bachelor of science degree is the default.”

Beck said some students in certain majors, will have to take more science credits to earn the bachelor of science degree.

The main difference between a bachelor of arts and a bachelor of science degree in truth is neither science nor art, but rather language.

If you major in history and plan to earn a bachelor of science, you need to pick up a few more science courses and if you’re planning on a bachelor of arts, you’ll need to meet the language requirements.

Beck said most graduate schools and companies don’t care too much whether a student graduates with a bachelor of science or a bachelor of arts.

Engineering doesn’t have bachelor of arts degree because of their accreditation. However, if students have language experience, they can still receive a minor, Beck said.

“Engineering is so credit heavy, it’s right up against what the state says is the max that they don’t really have room to add more to their core,” Beck said.

“Oftentimes, it’s not a lot of work for students to earn their bachelor of arts with so many that have language experience from LDS missions.”

Bachelor of fine arts is offered in the arts department because of their accreditation.

“There is more professional training in the bachelor of fine arts,” Beck said, “it means more to the employer or the grad school if you have a bachelor of fine arts rather than a bachelor of art.”

Music majors are automatically entered into the bachelor of music degree. Music has its own specific degree because of the accreditation. It is still considered a bachelor’s degree, but it is more specific than a bachelor of science or bachelor of art degree.

Any university that is accredited at a higher level will have specific degrees like landscape architecture and music. A music major at a non-accredited or lower-accredited university will earn a bachelor of arts.

Like music, landscape architecture majors are automatically admitted into the bachelor of landscape architecture degree.

For students looking for a quicker degree to go along with their main degree, an associates of applied science is a popular option.

To earn the associates of applied science degree, students must fulfill the major requirements, but do not need any general education credits, Beck said. Most students usually earn the associate of science in conjunction with another bachelor’s degree, the most common of these being landscape architecture. Students will earn their degree in landscape architecture and an associate’s in ornamental horticulture.

Such a degree is basically all of your general education with no major requirements. The associate of science is not offered through the main campus. Students can get their associate of science at a community college or through continuing education and then transfer the entire degree rather than individual classes

“Once a student gets that far, we must accept those general requirements,” Beck said. Beck said because they don’t want students coming to the university, getting their generals and then leaving, they offer this first step somewhere else.

A certificate is basically one semester’s worth of classes in the same general area. Students who plan to earn certificates are not required to fulfill any general education requirements.

Usually a certificate is done in conjunction with a bachelor’s, much like an associate’s.

Beck said it can show potential employers and grad schools that, in addition to doing the basic work it takes to get the bachelor’s, those students “did a little extra.”

“They didn’t just do the bare necessities,” Beck said. “They went ahead and went above that by becoming certified.”

Beck said at the graduate level a lot of the certificates are professional endorsements, like a teaching certificate.

For a full list of certificate available, Beck said it is best to check with the individual departments.

Along with students choosing their major and a minor and moving along on the path to graduation, it is important to understand which degree all those credits will bundle up to earn, and what additional requirements that degree requires.

Without this, college is little more than just classes, just as life without a goal is just toil.

-etippets@cc.usu.edu