天文学学士专业是为对天文学感兴趣的学生而设计的，这是一门通识教育科目，或者是物理科学的背景，可以从事多种职业，例如教学，新闻，法律，政府或公共政策，医学，科学写作以及媒体，可视化和商业领域的科学。与BS相比，文学学士学位课程在课程选择方面具有更大的灵活性，因为重点是知识的广度而不是深度或专业。希望将来继续攻读天文学研究生的学生应该改读BS专业。
The astronomy B.A. major is designed for students who are interested in astronomy as the subject of a liberal arts education, or as a background in the physical sciences for a wide range of career possibilities such as teaching, journalism, law or government or public policy, medicine, science writing and science in the media, visualization, and business. The B.A. major allows greater flexibility in the selection of courses than does the B.S. because the focus is on breadth of knowledge rather than on depth or specialization. Students who wish to pursue graduate studies in astronomy in the future should instead pursue the B.S. major.