The Bachelor of Applied Arts, often abbreviated as BAA or B.A.A. is an

undergraduate degree An undergraduate degree (also called first degree or simply degree) is a colloquial term for an academic degree earned by a person who has completed undergraduate courses. In the United States, it is usually offered at an institution of higher ed ...

, with different meaning in different countries. The term 'Applied' means that the degree is vocational in nature, and not research-oriented (depending on the country of origin). The term "applied arts" has been used since the late 19th century to differentiate it from the pure arts, fine arts, or regular humanities subjects, since it consisted of technical applications or a physical product or outcome. The term Bachelor of Applied Arts is used in a similar manner as

Bachelor of Applied Science A Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS or BASc) is an undergraduate academic degree of applied sciences. Usage In Canada, the Netherlands and other places the Bachelor of Applied Science (BASc) is equivalent to the Bachelor of Engineering, and is cl ...

Usage

The BAA is most often awarded in the

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an International organization, international association of member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, 56 member states, the vast majo ...

, especially in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, but it is also awarded in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. For example, the BAA is awarded by

Mount Saint Vincent University Mount Saint Vincent University, often referred to as the Mount, is a public, primarily undergraduate, university located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and was established in 1873. Mount Saint Vincent offers undergraduate Arts, Science, Edu ...

for

child A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...

and

youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood (Maturity (psychological), maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as bei ...

study, also there are BAA awarded in architectural technology,

interior design Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. With a keen eye for detail and a Creativity, creative flair, an ...

applied linguistics Applied linguistics is an interdisciplinary field which identifies, investigates, and offers solutions to language-related real-life problems. Some of the academic fields related to applied linguistics are education, psychology, Communication stu ...

information technology Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...

, arts education,

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

studies, and

gerontology Gerontology ( ) is the study of the social, culture, cultural, psychology, psychological, cognitive, and biology, biological aspects of aging. The word was coined by Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov in 1903, from the Ancient Greek, Greek ('), meaning "o ...

. Northland Polytechnic in New Zealand offers the BAA for the

visual art The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and texti ...

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public university, public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship instit ...

is the only university to offer the BAA in the United States being the BAA in Commercial Music. Canada In the past in Canada a (BAA) Bachelor of Applied Arts was slotted into fields that were both technical and creative in nature, or did not fit any of the traditional curricula of a classic structure of a "humanities" style degree. In Canada the term originated with Ryerson University (now

Toronto Metropolitan University Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU, or Toronto Met), formerly Ryerson University, is a Public university, public research university located in Toronto, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, Toronto, Gar ...

) in Ontario and prior to the late 1990s most of the degrees were B.A.A., as opposed to a B.A. Ryerson changed to the traditional degree naming after the end of the 1990s. At Ryerson programs were considered more professional in nature compared to other universities and offered theory classes along with practical applications, or at times combined in one class. There was also an outside program Liberal Studies - Humanities (breath) component for each program of study. Well known programs at Ryerson that used the B.A.A designation included Radio and Television Arts, Media, Journalism, Film and Photography, Theatre, Fashion Design and Merchandising, and Interior Design. In the early 2000s some Community colleges in Ontario were granted the ability to grant degrees and the B.A.A was adopted as the degree designation. The B.A.A designation is now used for all Degrees at Community Colleges in Ontario, but the Liberal Arts or Humanities component of the degree is not as strong compared to programs at universities due to funding and the difference in Policies for Colleges and Universities. Netherlands On 20 February 2009 the Dutch Minister of Education, Culture and Science,

Ronald Plasterk Ronald Hans Anton Plasterk (; born 12 April 1957) is a Dutch retired politician of the Labour Party (PvdA). He has a PhD degree in biology, specialising in molecular genetics. He is founder and CEO of Frame Cancer Therapeutics. He was appointed ...

, proposed to replace all the existing degrees offered by Dutch vocational universities, such as the BBA, BEd and

BEng A Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) or a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) is an undergraduate academic degree awarded to a college graduate majoring in an engineering discipline at a higher education institution. In the United Kingdom, a Bac ...

, with the BAA and the BASc.Website of the Dutch government
/ref>

References

{{Academic degrees

Applied Arts The applied arts are all the arts that apply design and decoration to everyday and essentially practical objects in order to make them aesthetically pleasing."Applied art" in ''The Oxford Dictionary of Art''. Online edition. Oxford Univ ...

Usage

See also

References