{"id":927,"date":"2026-09-04T10:38:47","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T14:38:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/admissions\/?p=927"},"modified":"2026-07-07T10:39:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T14:39:15","slug":"bs-ba-same-major-difference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/admissions\/2026\/09\/04\/bs-ba-same-major-difference\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s the Difference Between a BS and BA in the Same Major?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div  class=\"herdpress-block wp-block-herdpress-html has-white-background-color has-background   \">\n\t\t\t<p>If you&#8217;ve been researching different majors, you may have come across fields of study that offer both a Bachelor of Arts (BA) and Bachelor of Science (BS). What&#8217;s the difference and which one should you choose? Let&#8217;s break it down.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Bachelor of Arts:<\/strong> A BA has a broad, interdisciplinary focus. It typically includes more humanities, social sciences and foreign language requirements, and is a good fit if you want flexibility to explore multiple fields of study without being locked into a single specialized track. It is especially well suited for people-focused careers.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Bachelor of Science:<\/strong> A BS has a more specialized, technical focus. It typically includes more math, lab science and field-specific coursework. It\u2019s a good fit if you want to explore a specific discipline or pursue a technical career.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Fields that offer both:<\/strong> Some fields at Marshall, such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/psych\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">psychology<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/biology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">biological sciences<\/a>, offer both a BA and BS. The differences often come down to course requirements, not the degree name itself. For example, a BS in psychology emphasizes research methods and statistics, while a BA in psychology offers more flexibility for electives or combining the degree with another area of interest. For <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/blog\/what-are-biological-sciences-everything-you-need-to-know\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">biological sciences<\/a>, the BS is likely the stronger path if you&#8217;re pre-med or headed toward a science-heavy career. The BA may suit students who want to combine biology with another field like business or public health.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Which One Should You Choose?<\/h2>\n<p>There typically isn\u2019t a wrong answer, and both are respected four-year degrees. But here are a few things to consider:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Think about your career goals.<\/strong> Does your intended field or employer favor one over the other?<\/li>\n<li><strong>Consider graduate or professional school.<\/strong> Some programs prefer or require a BS, especially in the sciences.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Think about flexibility.<\/strong> If you want room for a minor, double major or electives outside your field, a BA often gives you more breathing room.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Talk to your academic advisor.<\/strong> They know the nuances of your specific program at Marshall.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div>Focus on finding the program that fits your interests and goals, and if you\u2019re still not sure, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/advising\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Office of Undergraduate Academic Advising<\/a> can help.<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":945,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/admissions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/admissions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/admissions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/admissions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/945"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/admissions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=927"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/admissions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/927\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":929,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/admissions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/927\/revisions\/929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/admissions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/admissions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/admissions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}