BA vs. BS
Generally, the Bachelor of Science implies a more applied and focused orientation in study as immediate preparation for a specific career in science or engineering, while the Bachelor of Arts implies a broader, more liberal education orientation with less likelihood of an immediate career start at the end of four years. The BS is more likely to be the first degree used for entry-level professional work than the BA. Both the BA and the BS can provide the foundation for advanced study at the masters and doctoral levels.
The differences at WPI between the Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts degrees are not enormous in terms of academic requirements. At WPI, both degrees have the same entrance requirements and the same general graduation requirements. The BS requires more study in the field of the major; the BA, a broader distribution of learning between the major and other, related fields. The differences between the two degrees have more to do, in many ways, with the career and life goals, both immediate and long term, of the student making the choice of degrees.
WPI is the only technological university to offer both the BS and the BA degrees. We initiated the BA in 2006 in order to provide students with an option to pursue a program of study with more choices in the humanities, arts, social sciences and management than is typically available with the BS. We believe achieving a BA at WPI can offer a student a broad “liberal” education appropriate to our increasingly technologically-dependent world.
Because WPI is a technological university, a BA from WPI includes more opportunities for the study of science or engineering at a more advanced level than at a liberal arts university. A BA from WPI will also enable students to live and work with students pursuing the BS, enriching opportunities for students pursuing either degree to become managers and leaders in technological innovation and entrepreneurship.
Further to assist students and their families in selecting between these two degree options at WPI, we offer the following guidelines.
Reasons for Selecting the BS option.
If your career interest is in design or research where a strong base in engineering and/or science is essential, you probably wish to take a BS degree.
If your primary goal after receiving your undergraduate degree is entry-level professional employment in engineering, science, or management, the BS option is for you.
If you are reasonably certain you will go on to further study in the field of your degree after graduation, in either a master’s or doctoral program, specializing in the field of your interest at the level of the BS is appropriate.
Career options. The WPI BS prepares students for careers in
engineering-aero, biomedical, chemical, civil, electrical and computer, environmental, industrial, manufacturing, mechanical, robotics;
the sciences-computer science, chemistry, biochemistry, mathematical sciences, physics;
management and business-especially in areas of science and engineering;
social sciences and policy studies-especially in systems dynamics and policy affecting high-tech industries.
Reasons for Selecting the BA option.
If you have not focused yet on a specific career field, but know you want an undergraduate program with broad options and a concentration in science or engineering, the BA may be the degree for you.
If you want to learn to apply the problem-solving methods of engineering and/or science to broad problems involving both science & technology and social needs & values, consider the BA.
If your primary goal after receiving you undergraduate degree is entry-level employment in a field where some depth in science or engineering is needed, along with broadening skills of communications and human & cultural interactions, the BA degree may be your best bet.
If you are looking for a traditional liberal arts education adapted to contemporary culture, the BA degree will provide opportunities to pursue both the traditional breadth study in the humanities, arts, and social sciences along with specific pre-professional study in engineering, science, or management.
Maintained by webmaster@wpi.eduLast modified: July 23, 2007 14:53:59