A bachelor's degree is usually an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course or major that generally lasts three or four years. (Note that some postgraduate degrees are entitled Bachelor of ..., e.g. the University of Oxford Bachelor of Civil Law and Bachelor of Philosophy.)

Honours degrees and academic distinctions

Under the British and Hong Kong systems, undergraduate degrees are differentiated by performance: they are awarded either as pass degrees or as honours degrees, the latter denoted by the appearance of "(Hons)" after the degree abbreviation. An honours degree generally requires a higher academic standard than a pass degree, and in Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada an extra year of study which may involve independent research and the writing of a thesis. An honours degree is sometimes accepted in place of a Master's degree as prerequisite for Ph.D. study. In the University of Dublin, the equivalent of honours is known as moderatorship , abbreviated "(Mod)". Honours and moderatorships are often divided into first, second upper, second lower, third and (sometimes) fourth classes.

Under the American system, bachelor's degrees within a certain course of study are not ranked or differentiated since the undergraduate Grade Point Average (GPA) is usually used to measure performance. However, Latin honors are given at graduation based on class rank, with the highest ranked graduates (based on GPA) given the distinctions (in descending precedence), summa cum laude ("with most praise"), magna cum laude ("with high praise"), and cum laude ("with praise"). These distinctions do not have the significance that honours degrees have under the British system. Notably, the state of California has largely abolished the use of Latin in its legal system, which means that the University of California cannot use Latin honors and must use the English translations (i.e. "highest honors", "high honors", and "honors") instead.

Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees

Today, the most common undergraduate degrees given are the Bachelor of Arts (B.A. or A.B.) and the Bachelor of Science (B.Sc. in Commonwealth usage or B.S. in U.S. usage). Originally, in the universities of Oxford and Cambridge all undergraduate degrees were in the Faculty of Arts, hence the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Since the late 19th century, most universities in the English-speaking world have followed the practice of the University of London in dividing undergraduate degree subjects into the two broad categories of arts and sciences, awarding the degree of Bachelor of Science to students of the latter category of subjects.

New bachelors' degrees

The University of Cambridge is perhaps unique today in awarding the B.A. for all undergraduate degrees. However, in many universities over the last hundred years the range of bachelors' degrees has expanded enormously, especially in Australia and New Zealand, where the B.A. degree is increasingly uncommon.

Some of these new degrees and their abbreviations include:

• B.A.Sc. — Bachelor of Applied Science
• B.Arch. — Bachelor of Architecture
• B.B.A. — Bachelor of Business Administration
• B.Ch. — Bachelor of Surgery (also the name of a postgraduate degree in some universities)
• B.Comm. — Bachelor of Commerce
• B.CompSc. — Bachelor of Computer Science
• B.D. — Bachelor of Divinity (also the name of a postgraduate degree in some universities)
• B.Des. — Bachelor of Design (Visual design discipline)
• B.Ed. — Bachelor of Education
• B.E.S. — Bachelor of Environmental Studies
• B.Eng. or B.E. — Bachelor of Engineering
• B.F.A. — Bachelor of Fine Arts
• B.G.S. — Bachelor of General Studies
• B.InfTech. — Bachelor of Information Technology
• B.M. or M.B. — Bachelor of Medicine (also the name of a postgraduate degree in some universities)
• B.Math. — Bachelor of Mathematics (also the name of a postgraduate degree in some universities)
• B.Mus. — Bachelor of Music (also the name of a postgraduate degree in some universities)
• B.P.Ed. or B.P.E. — Bachelor of Physical Education
• B.Pharm. — Bachelor of Pharmacy
• B.Phil. — Bachelor of Philosophy (originally a postgraduate degree, but now sometimes used for the name of undergraduate degrees)
• B.R.E. — Bachelor of Religious Education
• B.Tech. — Bachelor of Technology
• B.S. — Bachelor of Surgery (Commonwealth usage, usually as part of a MB BS)
• B.S.E. — Bachelor of Science in Engineering
• B.S.E.E. — Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering
• B.S.F. — Bachelor of Science in Forestry
• Ll.B. — Bachelor of Laws (also the name of a postgraduate degree in some universities)

A full list of British degree abbreviations is also available.

See also

• Master's degree
• Engineer's degree
• Doctorate
• Bologna process - European harmonisation
• Degrees of Oxford University
• British bachelor's degree classification