All about BA: Subjects, Colleges, Jobs, Salary, Admission

Bachelor of arts is one of the popular undergraduate degrees for students who want to pursue their career in psychology, counselling, teaching, social work, and other similar industries. The program is available in many courses, including but not limited to English Literature, Hindi, Sociology, Political Science, Psychology, Sanskrit, and more. 

You can pursue the course full-time, part-time, and in a distance mode. Students must pass their 12th standard to apply for BA. The admission criteria vary from college to college. Some institutions offer admission based on academic performance in high schools, while others consider your entrance test results before selecting you for admission. Here’s all about BA.

About BA Course

• BA or Bachelor of Arts is a 3-year graduation program for students who have passed higher secondary school.
• A student needs at least 50% from a recognizable board in their 12th to apply for the BA program.
• You can enrol in the BA program at any stage of your career or academics, so long as you meet the eligibility requirements. Educational institutions in India offer distance learning, allowing you to study at your own pace and from the comfort of your home.
• BA pass students can find jobs that pay INR 1 to 5 Lakhs PA at reputable companies.
• You can pursue an MBA or MA after a BA to boost your career scope. You can also prepare for the UPSC exams to qualify for IPS and IAS jobs.

BA Course Details

Why Should you do a BA?

Over 9 million students in India are pursuing a bachelor of arts and for a good reason. The scope of this program is broader than a bachelor of science and a bachelor of commerce program. You get plenty of career opportunities in different industries after completing your BA. This includes business, finance, commerce, banking, art, teaching, healthcare, hospitality, and other businesses. 

BA is the best program for students who aspire to get a job in the government sector. Most government jobs, such as SSA, mandates students to have a bachelor of art degree. What sets it apart from other courses is the fact that BA focuses more on the interpersonal development of the student. It improves your soft skills, making you a valuable candidate for any organization. Plus, the stream has as many job opportunities as any other degree (in fact, more options than other courses).

Who should do a BA?

Since BA programs include different courses, it is a suitable program for students who want to:

• Advance their career in teaching, writing, journalism, and other such industries. 
• BA in psychology is your first step to pursuing your career as a psychologist. Once you have completed your bachelor’s, you can pursue a master’s in psychology and start practising. 
• For students who want to specialize in a specific language, the program offers BA in English literature, Hindi, French, Urdu, and other language courses. You can become a translator, interpreter, content writer, lecturer, and voice-over artist after finishing your Bachelor’s. 

BA Eligibility Criteria

Candidates must check the below eligibility criteria for a BA program:

• You must have finished your 10+2 (higher education) from a recognizable board
• You must have scored at least 50% aggregate markets in your 10+2
• The academic qualification requirements for the SC and ST candidates may vary. Some colleges accept students with 40-45% minimum marks in their 12th (if they belong to SC and ST)

BA Admission Process

Once you have completed your 10+2, you are eligible for BA admission. Note that the qualification requirements in each university vary. Check the eligibility criteria of the institution and take the required entrance tests before applying for admission.

Required Skills for BA

You can learn many soft and hard skills after completing this 3-year program. However, some colleges need students to have certain skills to be eligible for the course. These include:

• Critical reasoning
• Good communication
• Teamwork
• Problem-solving skills
• Reading, writing, speaking and listening
• argumentation

BA Specializations

Bachelor of arts is available in multiple courses. A few of the most popular specializations of BA are:

• Language (English, Greek, Hindi, Sanskrit, French, Urdu, German, Japanese, and Spanish)
• Political Science
• Sociology
• Economics
• Home science
• Archaeology
• Philosophy
• Psychology
• History
• Religious studies
• Anthropology
• Journalism 
• Communication studies 

These were only to list a few. The BA specializations include a wide range of subjects, giving you a plethora of options to choose from.

BA Entrance Exams in India

Students applying for a BA course need to take a few entrance tests before they get admission to the university. Here are a few entrance tests a college asks you to take before giving admission.

• NPAT
• PUCET
• BHU UET
• TISS BET
• IPU SET
• JNUEE

BA Entrance Exam Syllabus

Since BA can be done in many subjects, the syllabus of this course may also differ from subject to subject. Mostly, the program has five mandatory subjects, but it can include more depending on the course. However, entrance tests for the BA have the same syllabus for all aspirants. It includes:

• English or Hindi
• General Awareness
• General Mental Ability Test
• Subject Test

Top Colleges for BA in India

If you are looking for the top colleges for BA in India, Delhi and Bangalore are the hubs for BA courses. However, colleges in almost every city offer BA programs in different disciplines. You can compare the top colleges, fees, campuses, faculty, and other factors before applying for admission. The top BA colleges in India are:

The fee varies depending on the subject and institution you choose. If you can’t pursue a BA full-time, you can use the distance learning more to complete the BA program from home. Many popular institutes in India support distance learning, allowing you to submit your assignments and take exams from home. The best college for getting a bachelor of arts degree remotely is IGNOU (Indira Gandhi National Open University). It is also a great option for those who can’t pay INR 80,000 for a BA program at Amity University or other expensive institutes. The BA course fee at IGNOU is INR 7,200.

Courses after BA

Students can pursue their further education in the same discipline or change their stream. However, it’s better to pursue your further education in the same course as your BA subject. For example, if you have completed your bachelor’s program in Psychology, you should consider achieving a master’s degree in the same discipline to grow your career in this field.

The best course after BA is MA (which is a post-graduate degree). You can also pursue B.Ed if you are looking for a job in the educational sector or an MBA. There are also a few diploma courses in photography, digital marketing, fashion designing, creative writing, and more. You need to score 50% in your graduation to become eligible for MBA. LLB is also a good option after a bachelor of arts. It is for the candidates interested in pursuing law after graduation. LLB is a 3-years program.

Jobs & Salary after BA

You can continue your further studies or get a job as a fresh graduate. As BA is a broad program, the jobs you can get after finishing your graduation vary depending on the subject you chose. Here are a few popular job options for BA students:

Media and Journalism: For students who’ve done a BA in English Literature, journalism is a good career option. You can work as a newspaper editor, news anchor, journalism, reporter, news writer, public relations associate, and more.

Social Work: this includes the job in the social sector where the student help in the upliftment of the society, spreading awareness and educating people. 

Foreign Language Experts: With a BA degree in a foreign language, you can work as a teacher, interpreter, translator, and book writer.

Content Writer/author: You can write content for websites, blogs, magazines, newspapers, and other journals. You could also publish your own book or a novel. 

Psychologist: BA in psychology is a program designed for those interested in improving people’s mental health. It gives you the practical and theoretical knowledge of diagnosing someone’s medical condition and giving group/individual therapies to help people recover from anxiety, stress, depression, bipolar disorder, and other mental health conditions.

Again, the career opportunities after a BA program can vary from person to person. It mainly depends on which course you choose after your bachelor’s. You can also work as an air hostess/flight attendant, a political consultant, an executive assistant, and at an archaeology museum. Get in touch with a career counsellor to learn more about your career options after your BA.

Top Recruiters for BA

Conclusion

You should pick up a subject in a BA as per your knowledge and ability. Mentioned below are a few FAQs that would help you gain a fair understanding of the BA course by providing an overview and resolving all your queries and concerns that you might have.

FAQs About a BA