The importance of a Bachelors degree, also called a Baccalaureate, lies in providing a foundation for a higher degree such as a Masters or PhD, and to meet the minimum requirements of some jobs and occupations.

In accordance with commonly held standards in the USA, all Bachelor degrees, including Bachelor of Arts Degrees, should require the equivalent of at least four years of full-time study on a particular subject, course or major.

With the advent of programs such as the Online Bachelor Degree, Accelerated Bachelor Degree, Distance Learning Bachelor Degree, full-time enrollment in a college is becoming less common. Therefore the standards for a Bachelors degree are usually expressed in terms of credits.

Standard requirements of Bachelor of Arts or B.A. degree programs are a minimum of 60 quarter or 40 semester credits from four compulsory subjects: Communications, Natural Sciences/Mathematics, Humanities and Social Sciences.

A minimum of 8 quarter or 5 semester credits in Communications, and a minimum of 12 quarter or 8 semester credits in each of the categories of Humanities, Social Sciences, Mathematics and Natural Sciences should be completed within the 60 quarter or 40 semester credits. The remaining general education credits should be chosen from one or more of the four compulsory categories.

Introductory course work should provide diverse exposure to the concepts, principles, and substance of individual disciplines. Advanced course work should be able to provide an exhaustive investigation of the individual disciplines. Thirty per cent of the total number of credits required to complete the Bachelors degree should be made up of advanced level credits.

Bachelor of Arts Degrees may be taken as a student enrolled in a college campus, or they may be taken at a distance. In theory, these ought to all conform to the minimum number of credits for the degree to be granted.