BA Course

Last Updated on July 29, 2023 by Vishnu Nambiar

Have you passed 12th standard? Do you want to pursue a good BA course? If yes, this article will be of help to you! Here, we will have an in-depth analysis of BA course.

BA is one of the oldest, traditional undergraduate level courses available in India. To this day, this course is very popular among Indian students (especially Arts students).  

  How’s this article of help to me, you may ask. Here, you will find everything you need to know about BA course. This article covers topics such as – course details, duration, eligibility criteria, admission process, colleges, syllabus, fees, careers and salary.   BA stands for Bachelor of Arts. As the name suggests, this program focuses on non-technological subjects. Some modern BA specialization programs do deal with technical subjects though!   BA course lasts for a period of 3 years. The academic program follows semester based learning system. Each academic year is divided into two semesters.   Thus, the entire academic program is made up of six semesters! A student has to face main external examination in each semester.   Though BA course is very popular among Arts stream students, there’s no stream-wise restriction associated with it! It means that students from any stream – Arts, Commerce or Science – are eligible to pursue this course!   Here’s an overview of the course –

• Name of the course: BA (Bachelor of Arts)
• Type of course: Bachelor’s Degree
• Duration: 3 years
• Eligibility Criteria: Passed 10+2 (Arts, Commerce or Science) from a recognized board)

Come, let us check out basic information about BA course. Here they are –

BA: Basic Details

As I mentioned before, BA stands for Bachelor of Arts. Traditionally, this course doesn’t focus on technical or science subjects. Due to this very fact, this course is very popular among Arts stream students.   BA course covers a wide variety of subjects. The subjects covered under the program may vary from one institute to another.   The best thing about BA course is that it serves as an excellent foundation program. For example, after completing BA in a specific discipline, one may pursue relevant Master’s Degree course and build a rewarding career in that niche!   The course covers so many subjects that students have an opportunity to choose from a wide variety of disciplines. Some such notable disciplines are –

• Banking
• Writing
• Fine Arts
• Journalism
• History
• Geography
• Psychology

Based on course content, BA courses in India can be classified into two types. They are –

• General BA program
• BA specialization programs

General BA is a traditional academic program. This course focuses on traditional subjects related to arts stream and few elective subjects. The course duration is 3 years.   BA specialization programs, on the other hand, focuses on a particular niche/domain/discipline. Such programs cover both traditional subjects as well as domain-specific subjects.   Here are some of the notable BA specialization programs –

• BA in History and Archaeology
• BA in Hindi
• BA in Humanities
• BA in Finance
• BA in Foreign Languages (example- French)
• BA in Regional Languages (example- Malayalam)
• BA in Journalism and Mass Communication
• BA in Visual Communication
• BA in Literature
• BA in Philosophy
• BA in Music
• BA in Theatre
• BA in Yoga and Naturopathy
• BA in Tourism and Hospitality Management
• BA in Library Science
• BA in Photography
• BA in Applied Science
• BA in Advertising
• BA in Fine Arts
• BA in Mathematics
• BA in Retail Management
• BA in Fashion Merchandising
• BA in Culinary Sciences
• BA in Anthropology
• BA in Home Science
• BA in Hotel Management
• BA in Computer Applications
• BA in Finance and Insurance
• BA in Interior Designing
• BA in Psychology
• BA in Economics
• BA in Animation and Multimedia

BA course is also available in multiple learning modes. Based on mode of learning, this course can be classified into two types. They are –

• Full time (Regular classroom) programs
• Part time (Distance education) programs

If you want to have the traditional classroom learning experience, you may go for full time programs. If you want to more flexible learning experience, you may go for part time programs.   Come, let us take a closer look at the course details. Here they are –

Course Details

Type of course

BA is an undergraduate level Bachelor’s Degree course.

Duration

The academic program is 3 years long. Each academic year is further divided into 2 semesters. The entire program is thus 6 semesters long.

Eligibility

The minimum qualification required to pursue this course is – passed 10+2 (Arts, Commerce or Science) from a recognized board.

Colleges

There exists many Government and Private colleges across India offering this course. Government colleges charge relatively lower fees than their private counterparts.

Admission Process

Reputed institutes rely on merit based admission process. Such institutes make use of relevant entrance test to select deserving candidates. Some institutes are also known to conduct their own qualifying test in order to select deserving candidates.   Some other institutes are also known to conduct direct as well as donation based admission process.

Syllabus

Here are some of the important subjects present in general BA curriculum –

• Writing
• Fine Arts
• Journalism
• History
• Geography
• Psychology
• Politics

Fees

Fees charged for the academic program may vary from one institute to another. Course fees depends upon the following factors –

• Location of the college
• Type of College (Government/Self Financed)
• Status and rating of the college
• Scholarship status (of student, if applicable)

PG Courses

After completing the course, BA graduates may take up a job or go for higher studies. Graduates do have access to a handful of PG courses.   The most popular PG course among graduates is – MA. MA stands for Master of Arts. The academic program is 2 years long.   MBA is another popular choice among BA graduates. An MBA will help you acquire management skills. The academic program is 2 years long.   LL.B. is also a very popular choice among BA graduates. If you want to become a Lawyer, LL.B. after BA will be of help to you!   Apart from that, BA graduates may also pursue job oriented PG Diploma courses related to disciplines such as – Writing, Banking, Arts, Geography, History, Politics etc.

Career Prospects

BA graduates have access to diverse job opportunities. They have access to both Government and Private sector jobs.   A BA graduate is eligible to apply for any Government job that requires Graduation. Some such notable Government jobs are in departments like –

• PSUs
• Government Banks
• Indian Railways
• Armed Forces
• Municipal Corporations
• Civil Services
• Other Government Departments

Talking about Private sector, some of the notable recruiters are –

• Private Banks
• MNCs
• Publishing firms
• Media firms
• Business firms
• NGOs
• Educational institutes

The nature/profile of work that you’ll get depends on your level of education (UG/PG) and specialization that you chose.

Salary

Starting salary depends upon a number of factors. Some of the prominent factors are –

• Institute from which the candidate completed the course
• Level of education (UG, PG etc)
• Job location

On an average, starting salary could be anywhere between 15-30K INR per month.