Bachelor question

[Jennr2z]

Just pondering all of the different liberal studies type of Bachelors….  UMPI is a BLS, Excelsior can be either a BA or BS in Liberal Studies, TESU is a BA in Liberal Studies. What makes any of them different from each other? Is a BLS thought of as a lower degree than a BA or BS? Just curious for future employer recognition. Also have seen some Masters program requirements of a BA/BS, would a BLS generally satisfy that?  

[ss20ts]

They're all bachelor's degrees so they're all equal. The master's program I'm in required a bachelor's degree. My BLS filled that requirement. There were also specific undergrad courses required. It depends on the school and program if they will accept something other than a BA/BS. There are several other bachelor's out there including BBA, BPS, BAS, BFA, etc.

[dfrecore]

Different schools call their degrees different things, or abbreviate them differently. So it can be confusing.

UMPI's BLS is Bachelor's of Liberal Studies (not sure if it's a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies or a Bachelor of Science in Liberal Studies, but it doesn't really matter).

EC has a BLS as well, and you can choose whether it's a BA in LS or a BS in LS. The difference is that their BA is 90/30 split, with 90cr in the Liberal Arts courses (Social Sciences, Humanities, Math and Natural Sciences); and you're required to get 30cr of UL all in the Liberal Arts. Their BS is a 60/60 split, and you're required to get 21cr of UL in the Liberal Arts, and 9cr of UL can be in the Free Electives (so Business, Computers, etc.).

TESU has a BALS, which is just a BA in Liberal Studies. They have a 90/30 split. If you choose a concentration like Management or HR, then it's actually a 81/39 split (you'll have 18cr of management or HR, but 3 of those courses are Liberal Arts and 3 are Business/Free electives).

Each of those schools also has different requirements for their degrees. Like, EC allows 113cr to be brought in, and all of those can be ACE. TESU requires 30cr of RA. And UMPI requires 30cr to be taken there. TESU allows grades of D to be brought into the GE and Free Electives, EC and UMPI do not.

They also have different requirements for GE. EC is the most flexible, with very few specific courses you need. TESU is next. UMPI is pretty specific, and requires both a bio science and physical science, and 1 must have a lab.

Lots of differences, but all of these can be overcome pretty easily.

[bjcheung77]

Just pondering all of the different liberal studies type of Bachelors….  UMPI is a BLS, Excelsior can be either a BA or BS in Liberal Studies, TESU is a BA in Liberal Studies. What makes any of them different from each other? Is a BLS thought of as a lower degree than a BA or BS? Just curious for future employer recognition. Also have seen some Masters program requirements of a BA/BS, would a BLS generally satisfy that?  

What makes any of them different from each other?
The courses you take are the main differences as some schools require a lab, language, or some other requirements.  Each school will have a set of courses they would like students to complete as a "package", some private schools may require a bible or religion course as well.

Is a BLS thought of as a lower degree than a BA or BS?
No, they're all Bachelors level, the course content should all be relatively equal, the courses/subjects may differ for each degree due to institutional requirements.

Also have seen some Masters program requirements of a BA/BS, would a BLS generally satisfy that?
Your answers will "depend" on what Masters program you're referring to as many variables come into play.  All masters programs have specific entry requirements, as long as you "hit" all those requirements, it won't matter which Bachelors you have.

Note: You should look at what Masters or graduate degree you're interested in and see what degree entry requirements there are.  Each institution would have their own entry into a very similar program provided elsewhere.  Find one that you like and make sure you have checked their requirements within the application.  You may want to review this post of mine here: TESU