<p>What is the difference between these two? Does it matter which one you get? What are the advantages of each?</p>
<p>Also, why are some schools accredited by NASAD and some not? For example, SCAD is not accredited, and neither is the BU school. But they seem to be pretty good schools.</p>
<p>Just wondering.</p>
<p>Just a quick response to part of your question. A BA/BS degree is (rule of thumb) 70% liberal arts classes, 30% major classes. A BFA is the other way around, more art/studio classes than liberal arts. I’m not sure which schools other than MCAD offer a BS degree in Art. I know MCAD’s is business-based, for those that want to get into the agent/gallery running and generally the business of art. I don’t know what the mix of classes is, but there’s less studio I think. You can find more info on their website. </p>
<p>I’m not sure about the accreditation issue. I’ve heard both sides of the coin, but in our college search, we tended to look more favorably on those that had it, as possibly helping with grad school acceptance.</p>
<p>AICAD (Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design) provides a detailed discussion about the differences between the BA and BFA degrees here:</p>
<p>[AICAD</a> - What’s a BFA?](<a href=“http://www.aicad.org/whatsbfa.htm]AICAD”>http://www.aicad.org/whatsbfa.htm)</p>
<p>As for NASAD, it is a voluntary accreditation and some schools just choose not to participate. If you search the CC archives, you’ll find several threads about SCAD and whether or not its not being NASAD-accredited means anything.A few years ago, there were several passionate posters on both sides of the argument.</p>
<p>SUNY Purchase announced (at their accepted students open house a couple of weeks ago) the institution of a new Bachelor of Science degree in visual arts. The way I understood the breakdown was in the number of studio hours required for the degree. BA degrees typically only require I think it was 30 hours of studio time, the BFA required a great deal more – I think maybe it was 90 (but I could be misremembering it) and the new BS degree would require the midpoint in studio hours – I think it was 60 hours studio (though I could be off by a factor and it was 30-45-60 not 30-60-90???)</p>
<p>Anyway, the B.S. degree would be fairly unique to SUNY Purchase. It will start with the incoming class this Fall.</p>
<p>Regards,</p>
<p>Skidmore offers a BS in studio art.</p>