There is no consistency about whether a college awards a B.A. or a B.S. for its degrees (and a few colleges award an A.B.). Some colleges use one name and some use another, while some make differences between the two degrees. There’s no consistency about the way in which a college gives B.A.'s or B.S.'s to different students either.
PurplePerson, if your degree hasn’t served you well, it has nothing to do with whether it’s a B.A. or a B.S. It’s mostly a matter of what you majored in at college. It may also be a matter of your grades or what college you went to or your inflated expectations of what the degree would get you. Furthermore, a lot of what determines what job you get is about knowing how to look for the appropriate jobs. And, of course, a lot of it is about knowing the right people. It’s often important to have friends or relatives who know where the job openings are.
My degree did not serve me well because when I went to graduate school I had to take all of the music classes I missed by getting a BA. I was an A student and am in “Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities” (if that actually means anything).
A BS in music is much more seviceable. I could have at least taught in a public school with that, but I was not told that as a kid entering college. I was told that with a BA you get a job anywhere. I needed the BS to lead me to a practicle job. One in a million performance majors make a living at it.
To teach in a public high school or elementary school, you need to take the appropriate courses on teaching. The degree most people take to get such jobs in a Bachelor of Science in Education, but the important thing is what teaching courses you take. A state certification board doesn’t care what your degree was called. They just need to be sure that you took the appropriate courses on teaching.
If someone told you that you can make a living in music just by getting a degree in it, they were lying, and you were gullible. Most people who call themselves musicians are just doing it part-time and working other jobs. If you still want to do something in music, go back to college and take the education courses necessary to get your teaching certificate. You can’t be guaranteed a job when you get a bachelor’s degree in art, philosophy, anthropology, history, or any of a number of other fields either. There are no guarantees in life in general.
I was gullable and ignorant, 29 years ago, and I am working at another job that I absolutely love, and I teach private music lessons on the side. I am happy now, but if had I been better informed when I was 18, I probably would have done things differently.
The sky is the limit when you don’t know where you are going. But sometimes it works out better that way. I did what I loved.