What is the difference between schools and departments. What is the difference between majors, degreees, and areas of study.
Departments are housed in schools. For example, the School of Arts and Sciences might include the Music Department, Biology Department, Philosophy Department, etc. A department typically focuses on one (or two) subject(s), while a school includes many subjects. It varies from school to school though. For example, a university might have a School of Music, in which case they might have the voice department, the piano department, etc, or they may have one Music Department, typically under a Science of Arts and Sciences.
A university typically offers various types of degrees, which may include: Bachelor of Arts (BA), Bachelor of Science (BS), Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), Bachelor of Music (BM), etc.
Your major is what your primary focus of your degree is, i.e. what you are studying. You can have more than one, but that requires more work and careful planning. For example, I’m a double major in Math and Computer Science, pursuing a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree.
Areas of study is not a term that has a standard definition across universities. For, it may be used to refer to a major at some places, but at others may refer to general education requirements- categories of courses everyone must fulfill to get a certain degree regardless of what their major is.