What to study? BBA or BBS?

What to study? BBA or BBS?

Are you tired of contemplating about choosing BBA or BBS? Well you don’t have to worry, you are not alone in this. It is indeed very confusing decision regarding what to study because of the similarities in the degree name and course structure. However confusing it might be for +2 graduates like you, it is an important decision to make. Sometimes this decision is important due to many reasons like financial capabilities, career ambitions and others. Here are some distinctions between the two programs that will help to simplify your decision on “what to study? BBA or BBS program?"

Introduction to the courses

Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is a four year management program offered in Nepal by several national as well as international universities. Some of the Nepali universities which offer BBA are TU, KU, Pokhara, Purbanchal, Far-Western, Mid-Western, and Nepal Open University; while London Metropolitan and Lincoln University offers International BBA degree. This course has a total of 120 credit hours of study which is designed as per semester system. The whole course is divided into Foundation courses, Managerial courses, Specialization courses, and Internship.

Bachelor of Business Studies (BBS) is three/four years management program run by universities like TU (four years), Mid-Western (four years), Far-Western (four years), Purbanchal (three years), and Nepal Open University (three years). The credit hours differ according to the universities. The whole course is divided into Foundation courses, Core Business Studies, and Specialization courses. More than 680 colleges in Nepal offer BBS program.

Is there a significant difference between BBA and BBS?

One significant difference between BBA and BBS is the duration of the degree. As mentioned earlier, some of the universities have designed three-year BBS degree while all the BBA degree are of four years.

Another significant difference is that majority of the universities have designed the BBS course structure on yearly basis and not on semester basis. This means the students of BBS will get to study very few courses as compared to their BBA counterparts. For example, BBA students will learn 5 subjects in a semester which means they learn 10 subjects in a year. On the other hand, BBS students will just learn 5 subjects in a whole year. Of course, this might differ according to the universities but it is true for the majority of them.

The credit hours assigned to the same subject might also differ in BBA and BBS. For example, micro-economics can have 6 credits in BBS while it can have just 3 credits in BBA. But having less credit hour is not necessarily a bad thing. It just means that you will have to study more subjects in BBA to earn same credit as in BBS. As BBA is designed as a semester system, there is no other option than studying more number of subjects. But studying more subjects is beneficial because on one hand, you will have knowledge in several subject; and on the other hand, it will be comparatively easier for you to enroll for your master’s degree. To be more specific, foreign universities will not recognize your bachelor degree even though you have required number of credit hours because you earned it by studying very few subjects.

Downside of BBS as compared to BBA

Three-year BBS programs are not recognized internationally by the universities abroad. If the BBS graduates want to do their master’s degree in foreign country, they will face problem solely because of their three-year bachelor degree. International colleges only recognize four-year bachelor degree. BBA graduates won’t have such problems as they are spread across four years period. BBA is recognized as a bachelor degree program by academic institutions all over the world.

Downside of BBA as compared to BBS

As BBA programs need to maintain international standard by including both theoretical and practical approach to learning, the program is slightly expensive than BBS and might not be affordable to everyone. Some might even argue that you will get same level of knowledge in BBA and it just charges higher than BBS. You need to be able to choose the right academic institutions which provides distinct value addition in BBA degree or else you will just end up paying more for less.

Another downside is that due to the semester system in BBA, the courses will have to be completed within six months before the students appear for their final examination. The students will have to study comparatively more courses in BBA in a short span of time. And because of this, the students might not be able to grasp all the knowledge and sometimes teachers might also not be able to deliver every bit of information.

So, which is it? BBA or BBS?

Now that you know the differences between both the degrees and that you know the downside of these courses when compared to one another, you can make the decision regarding "what to study?" Outline what you want from your bachelor degree - is it knowledge, affordability, or is it your means to apply in foreign countries? Then choose the course which best meets your objective. Finally, just choosing the degree is not the end of your problem, you also need to choose the right college for yourself.