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Bachelor Degrees (Types)

The first degree of any type presented by VAMC was the bachelor of arts to two students, William J. Havener and Robert J. Noell, in 1883. The degree was discontinued in 1886 after six more students had received it and was not presented again until 1968. The second undergraduate degree, mining engineer, was awarded to two students only—one in 1885 and one in 1886; the degree was later offered at the graduate level. A bachelor of science for completion of a four-year general science program was awarded to two students in l887, two more in 1889, and one in 1891. The first of the present bachelor of science degrees was awarded in 1892 to five students majoring in specific curricula: applied chemistry (1), civil engineering (1), horticulture (1), and mechanical engineering (2). Only one bachelor of scientific agriculture was awarded, and that was in 1888. One mechanical engineer degree and one civil engineer degree were awarded in 1889 at the undergraduate level; both were later offered at the graduate level. The present bachelor of architecture, a professional degree requiring completion of a five-year program, was first presented to three students in 1958; bachelor of landscape architecture was approved in 1970 (effective 1971); bachelor of technology degree was approved in 1972 (effective fall quarter that year).

Bachelor Degrees (by curricula), 1883-2009. The table below lists the various curricula in which bachelor’s degrees have been awarded since 1893. Some of the names have been changed from the original to reflect later degree names; in other cases, the degree names are shown with a starting and ending date when that information could be found. Column A indicates the first year the degree was awarded in that curriculum; Column B indicates the last year the degree was awarded, if discontinued; Column C lists the number of degrees awarded in the curriculum through 2009.

Curriculum A B C
Accounting 1962 2002 5,190
Accounting & Information Systems 2002   1,274
Aerospace Engineering (Aeronautical) 1943   2,165
Aerospace & Ocean Engineering 1976 1988 755
Agricultural & Applied Economics 1994   487
Agricultural Economics 1928 1994 920
Agricultural Education 1920 2008 1,407
Agricultural Engineering 1921 1996 834
Agricultural Sciences 2007   26
Agronomy 1921 1991 874
Animal and Poultry Science 1998   1,023
Animal Science 1921 1998 2,496
Apparel, Housing, and Resource Mgmt. 2005   693
Architectural Engineering 1930 1969 366
Architecture (B/Arch) 1958   4,220
Art & Art History (Art) 1969   1,202
Art, Secondary Education 1982 1986 3
Biochemistry (Agriculture & Life Science) 1969   407
Biochemistry (Arts & Sciences; Science) 1970   1,033
Biochemistry & Nutrition 1969 1997 295
Biological Systems Engineering 1996   243
Biology (Biological Sciences) 1914   8,552
Building Construction (after separated from Arch.) 1966   1,460
Building Design 1951 1961 133
Business Administration 1927 1967 3,898
Business Education 1951 2008 432
Business Information Technology 2002   1,281
Ceramic Engineering 1937 1977 222
Chemical Engineering 1916   3,502
Chemistry 1892   1,770
Civil Engineering 1889   8,128
Civil Engineering Technology 1974 1981 124
Classical Studies 2003   41
Clothing & Textiles 1980 2005 805
Clothing, Textiles, and Related Arts 1964 1983 912
Commercial Engineering 1923 1930 82
Communication 1976   4,848
Computer Engineering 1989   1,698
Computer Science 1971   3,655
Construction Engineering & Management 2009   4
Crop & Soil Environmental Sciences 1992   431
Dairy Science 1921   1,133
Distributive Education, Secondary Edu. 1956 1983 516
Economics, Arts and Sciences (now in Science) 1964   1,517
Economics, Business 1963   897
Electrical Engineering 1894   10,128
Electrical Engineering Technology 1974 1982 280
Elementary Education 1969 1993 1,802
Engineering Science & Mechanics (Engineering Mechanics) 1908   1,047
English 1964   3,429
English, Secondary Ed. 1972 1978 40
Environmental Policy & Planning 1998   148
Environmental Science 1993   569
Family & Child Development 1983 2002 2,104
Family & Consumer Sciences Education 2001   14
Finance 1968   6,770
Fine Arts (BFA) 1996   216
Fisheries Science 2000   143
Food Science & Technology 1972   369
Foreign Languages 1968 1970 23
Forestry 1997   330
Forestry and Wildlife 1939 2000 3,506
French 1971   273
General Agriculture 1888 1965 373
General Business 1968 1986 877
General Engineering 1935 1939 17
General Home Economics 1964 1968 17
General Science 1887 1975 521
Geography 1974 2004 511
Geological Engineering 1957 1958 4
Geophysics 1959 1997 170
Geosciences (Geology) 1907   1,023
German 1971   102
Health Education 1978 1999 202
Health & Physical Education 1968 2007 1,049
Health/Physical Education, Secondary Ed. 1972 1977 320
History 1963   3,115
History & Social Sciences, Secondary Ed. 1972 1992 138
Home Economics 1929 1963 397
Home Economics, Secondary Ed. 1973 2001 58
Horticulture 1892   1,864
Hospitality & Tourism Management 1995   1,196
Hotel, Restaurant, & Institutional Mgmt. 1988 1995 494
Housing, Int. Design, & Resource Mgmt. 1983 2005 1,451
Human Development 2002   891
Human Nutrition & Foods 1964 1997 1,061
Human Nutrition, Foods, & Exercise 1997   1,912
Humanities, Science, and Environment 2009   1
Industrial Arts, Secondary Education 1949 1988 517
Industrial Design 1998   259
Industrial Education 1921 1939 28
Industrial Engineering & Operations Research 1930 1991 3,267
Industrial & Systems Engineering 1991   1,767
Integrated Pest Management 1981 1988 20
Interdisciplinary Studies 1997   1,455
Interior Design 2004   201
International Studies 1969   983
Landscape Architecture (B/LA) 1974   490
Liberal Arts and Sciences 1973 1997 1,393
Management 1968   5,509
Mgmt., Housing. & Family Development 1964 1983 943
Management Science 1985 2002 2,165
Marketing (Marketing Management) 1968   6,410
Marketing Education 1982 2009 319
Materials Engineering 1978 1992 335
Materials Science & Engineering 1992   331
Mathematics 1953   2,222
Mathematics, Secondary Education 1970 1992 202
Mechanical Engineering 1892   10,971
Mechanical Engineering Technology 1974 1982 189
Metallurgical Engineering 1934 1977 447
Metallurgy & Metallography 1909 1937 19
Mining Engineering 1885   1,146
Music 1975   387
Natural Resources Conservation 2006   141
Natural Sciences, Secondary Ed. 1972 1992 154
Nuclear Science 1969 1990 85
Ocean Engineering 1988   261
Philosophy 1967   333
Physical Education, Secondary Ed. 1976 1977 77
Physics 1941   934
Political Science 1963   3,999
Poultry Science 1942 1998 190
Preparatory Medicine 1903 1907 5
Psychology 1968   5,617
Public Administration 1962 1998 534
Public & Urban Affairs 1998   286
Recreation, Secondary Ed. 1976 1987 217
Rural Sociology 1942 1965 141
Secretary Work/Commercial Teaching 1927 1931 3
Sociology 1966   2,173
Spanish 1971   3414
Statistics 1948   464
Technology Education 1988 2009 243
Theatre Arts 1971   541
Unclassified B.A. Degrees 1883 1886 8
Urban Affairs 1972 1998 576
Vocational-Industrial, Secondary Ed. 1972 2005 186
Wildlife Science 2000   282
Wood Science & Forest Products 2000   133