BA, AB, BS, BAAS, BSc, SB, ScB

Today, the most common undergraduate degrees given are the Bachelor of Arts (Artium Baccalaureus) (BA, AB) and the Bachelor of Science (Scientiæ Baccalaureus) (BS, BSc, SB, ScB). Originally, in the universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Dublin, all undergraduate degrees were in the Faculty of Arts, hence the degree of Bachelor of Arts. The Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences (BAAS) is an undergraduate degree that bridges academic and work-life experiences.
Since the late 19th century, most universities in the Commonwealth have followed the practice of the University of London[3] in dividing undergraduate degree subjects other than Law, Medicine, and Engineering, into the two broad categories of arts and sciences; conferring the degree of Bachelor of Arts upon students of the former and admitting students of the latter to the degree of Bachelor of Science.
In the United States, many colleges (particularly liberal arts colleges) as well as universities award the Bachelor of Arts for all academic (non pre-professional) subjects. In these institutions, students studying academic subjects (English, chemistry, etc.) would receive a Bachelor of Arts while students studying for professions (police science, finance, nursing) would receive a Bachelor of Sciences.[citation needed] Some schools award the Bachelor of Arts for the humanities and the Bachelor of Sciences for both natural sciences and social sciences.[citation needed] In some cases a student may choose between a BA course of study and a BS course of study in the same subject at the same college.
Three American universities—the California Institute of Technology, the Georgia Institute of Technology, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology— the six State Maritime Academies; as well as the five United States Service academies—the Military, Naval, Air Force, Merchant Marine, and Coast Guard Academies—award the Bachelor of Science for all subjects, including subjects that at other institutions would be awarded a Bachelor of Arts (such as literature) (though their courses of study are heavily weighted in the sciences and engineering, even if a student/Cadet/Midshipman decides to major in a topic such as English or History). Harvard University, on the other hand, offers only the degrees "Bachelor of Arts" and "Bachelor of Liberal Arts" except to engineering students who may be awarded an SB in engineering as a supplement to the Bachelor of Arts, which still must be earned first.