Bachelor of Arts

Bachelor of Arts from the Latin Artium Baccalaureus, is an undergraduate bachelor's degree awarded for either a course or a program in the liberal arts or the sciences, or both.  The concept of "years" is based on credit hours. The "four years" expected to complete a B.A. degree is an estimate of time it should take to complete the amount of credit hours deemed necessary for matriculation by the institution accredited by the US Department of Education. Thus, a B.A. could be achieved in lesser time should the student achieve said credit hours in the shorter period of time. While difficult, it is not uncommon, particularly in the United States, where higher education is increasingly expensive.

See also Bachelor of Science degree.