Undergraduate Programs

3.2 Arts

The mission of the Bachelor of Arts is to strengthen your critical and creative thinking by offering a broad range of social, political, and cultural programs of study. A liberal arts education from Athabasca University is designed to broaden your perspective on local and global affairs, encourage community and social involvement, and prepare you for lifelong learning and occupational diversity.

The three-year Bachelor of Arts program is a well-respected credential in Canada and the United States. While the three-year degree program is a highly marketable credential, it is not aimed at providing students with direct access to graduate level studies. Often an additional year of study is required to achieve that academic goal.

The four-year Bachelor of Arts provides students with a broad, flexible education that allows them to develop, understand, and disseminate knowledge, to think critically, and to build on these abilities. In addition, the four-year degree fully prepares students for most graduate programs. Graduates of the Bachelor of Arts with a major are expected to have gained sufficient analytical and critical thinking skills to be able to engage in independent research in their chosen major.