Bachelor of Science
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Bachelor of Science (B.S., B.Sc. or less commonly, S.B. or Sc.B. from the Latin Scientiae Baccalaureus) is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three years in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, England, Germany, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, the Republic of Ireland, Latvia, Malaysia, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Poland, Romania, Quebec, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland and Wales; or four years in the United States, Israel, Canada (except Quebec), Mexico, Iran, Japan, Myanmar, Pakistan, the Philippines, China and Scotland; four or five years in Brazil.
In North America, a Bachelor of Science degree may be a more specialized version of B.A., with more focus on the subject and less on a broad liberal arts background; for example, a B.S. in economics may require several more advanced economics courses than a B.A. in economics, and possibly more support courses (such as statistics). The B.S. is also frequently used for professional areas of study such as engineering, journalism, and advertising.
In the UK, which subjects are considered science subjects varies, e.g. economics degrees may be B.A. in one university but B.Sc. in another. In addition, some universities, like the London School of Economics, offer the B.Sc. in practically all subject areas even when they are normally associated with arts degrees, while others award arts qualifications almost exclusively, namely the Oxbridge universities. In both instances, this is generally for historical and traditional reasons. A Bachelor of Science receives the designation B.Sc. or B.S. for a major/pass degree and B.Sc. (Hons) or B.S. (Hon) for an honours degree.
In Germany there is no ordinary Bachelor. The B.Sc. from Germany is equivalent to a B.Sc. (Hons).
Formerly in the University of Oxford, the degree of B.Sc. was a postgraduate degree. This former degree, still actively granted, has since been renamed M.Sc.
In Brazil, a Bachelor of Science degree is a graduation degree and is also more specific, usually containing a one-year mandatory probation time by the end of the course followed by relatively elaborate written and oral evaluations (Monografia).
[edit] See also
- Bachelor of Arts
- Bachelor's degree
- Bologna process
- British undergraduate degree classification
- British degree abbreviations
- List of tagged degrees
