A Bachelor of Fine Arts degree is a professional degree taken at the undergraduate level, according to the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design (AICAD). This type of degree offers students an intensive course of study in subjects considered to be fine arts. These disciplines include painting, drawing, sculpture, Photography, creative writing, filmmaking, theater and digital arts.
A student studying the creative arts can also earn a Bachelor of Arts instead of a Bachelor of Fine Arts in her chosen discipline. Each degree offers a heavy emphasis on the liberal arts as well as the specific artistic discipline being studied. The difference between the Bachelor of Fine Art and the Bachelor of Arts is in the amount of time a student spends working on liberal arts subjects like literature, history or modern languages compared to the time spent creating art. According to AICAD, a BFA students spends two-thirds of her time creating art whereas the BA student spends that same amount of time on general studies.
No difference exists in the curricular breakdown of the Bachelor of Fine Arts versus the Bachelor of Arts, regardless of the type of school the art student attends. What this means is that the large public university requires the same two-thirds art, one-third liberal arts ratio as the colleges of art and design do. Many people believe that if a person attends a professional art college he will take more art classes than he would liberal arts, according to AICAD. However, that is not the case; it is the degree type and not the college that determines the ratio of art and liberal arts classes.
Both degree types have their advantages. According to All Art Schools, the advantage of a Bachelor of Arts is that an art student is prepared for a job outside the arts sector should he need to take such a job. On the other hand, AICAD designates the Bachelor of Fine Arts the most appropriate degree for the student who is serious about becoming a professional artist or designer. These types of degrees attract highly motivated and talented faculty and students, offering the BFA candidate a committed and intense learning atmosphere.
In addition to traditional Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees like painting, sculpture or photography, new BFA programs reflect the changing nature of art. Digital animation, new media and website design and sequential or comic book art degrees count among the new Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in the 21st century.