BA vs BFA
The difference between BA and BFA basically stems from the subjects of study and the duration of study. BA and BFA are two degrees offered at various colleges and universities across the world. BA is the popular Bachelor of Arts program whereas BFA is the Bachelor of Fine Arts program. Both are usually studied for a period of three years in various colleges and universities. However, this duration applies for general degrees. If it is a special degree, one will have to spend four years or more. Both degrees are relevant to the arts stream. BFA focuses more on the subject of art while BA focuses on languages, social sciences, etc.
What is BA?
BA stands for Bachelor of Arts. Various subjects such as philosophy, history, psychology, languages such as English and French, economics and the like are included in the BA programs. Moreover, all these subjects included in BA programs are traditional subjects that are job-oriented. For example, a student who completes BA in Economics can get appointed as an Economics tutor in a school. As you can see, it does not mean that once you have BA degree in Economics you end up in a bank or such place where your skills can be used practically. You job opportunity area is large. Then, a student has to complete his or her BA degree to become eligible to apply for MA or Master of Arts.
What is BFA?
BFA stands for Bachelor of Fine Arts. BFA programs or degrees aim at the specialization of the fine arts such as music, dance, painting, drawing, carpentry, sculpture, and the like. The students of BFA, for example in the discipline of music, will study the application of music in various other fields, musicology, history of music, musicians and the like in their course of study. At the time of the completion of the course, they become eligible as music performers too. In some cases, they may have to complete MFA or the Master of Fine Arts degree to become eligible as performers. However, some artists will say that you do not need a BFA to become an artist as long as you have the talent. This can be true, but having extra educational qualifications can only bring you benefits. Subjects for BFA are profession-oriented in nature. For example, a person who completes BFA in painting is likely to become a professional painter. As you can see, there is a direct connection between the degree and the profession in the case of BFA. BFA is the degree of eligibility for the student to apply for MFA or the Masters in Fine Arts.
What is the difference between BA and BFA?
• BA stands for Bachelor of Arts. BFA stands for Bachelor of Fine Arts. They are both first degrees.
• Various subjects such as philosophy, history, psychology, languages such as English and French, economics, and the like are included in the BA programs. BFA programs or degrees aim at the specialization of the fine arts such as music, dance, painting, drawing, carpentry, sculpture and the like. This is the main difference between BA and BFA.
• BFA is the degree of eligibility for the student to apply for MFA or the Masters in Fine Arts. In the same way, a student has to complete his or her BA degree to become eligible to apply for MA or Master of Arts.
• The duration for both BA and BFA is three years. However, if you are doing a special degree, then the duration can be four years. In the case of BFA, this can take more than four years as well. That is because a large amount of practical work is included in a BFA special degree.
• You can follow fine arts subjects as minor while doing your BA.
These are the differences between BA and BFA.
Images Courtesy:
- Literature via Pixabay (Public Domain)
- Music students by Jorgeroyan (CC BY-SA 3.0)
