WITH nearly 18,000 plus colleges, and about 2 million plus seats, the general Bachelor of Arts (BA), Bachelor of Science (BSc) and Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) is the de facto choice for most of the 10+2 pass outs. The Association of Indian Universities (AIU) lists out nearly 365 different disciplines and subjects under which one can pursue undergraduate degree programmes.

We have broadly grouped them under three major academic disciplines.

Arts

According to Ministry of HRD this discipline commands the maximum number of enrolments. Over 6 million students are enrolled in over 168 different disciplines. Though its employability quotient is quite low when it comes to mofussil colleges, Arts scores quiet high in leading colleges in the country. Most offer job-oriented courses like human resource management, English language writing skills and human rights as an integral part of the curriculum. But the humanities disciplines score in inculcating life skills like learning, comprehension, analysis and synthesis of arguments in students.

Commerce

With 7-10 lakh per annum packages, the BCom (Hons) degree has suddenly acquired the charm and value of an MBA degree, but only if you pursue it from a college like SRCC of Delhi. As a discipline, Commerce has caught the imagination of students and the number of seats in this discipline is on the rise. With MBA programmes increasing exponentially commerce graduates have found a niche for themselves and the availability of other lucrative options like CA, CS or CWA, the pasture is green for many.

(Read Careers360's exclusive career review on Commerce stream here...)

Science

This is a discipline that is losing its charm despite the persistent initiative of the State. While the launch of integrated programmes by Indian Institutes of Science Education & Research has brought the charm of science back, general colleges are not keeping pace. While some like Delhi university are attempting to incorporate applied subjects like polymers, microelectronics, integrated circuits etc to core science degrees, some others like Loyola College, Chennai are integrating live projects to basic degrees to make it interesting. 

(After pursuing graduation in Science, you can specialise in cutting-edge fields like Earth System Sciences and Climate, Wildlife Sciences and Astrophysics. Know more about them here....)
 

**Includes Arts, Fine Arts, Social Work, Science & Commerce. Source: Ministry of HRD, GOI

More course options after Class 12:

Allied Medical, Fine Arts, Engineering, Teaching, Special Education, Journalism, Home Science, Medicine, Armed Forces, Hotel Management , Legal study, exotic courses , CA/CS/CWA ,Biotech, VISCOM, Indian Coast Guard, Design , Foreign Language 

Post your queries and comments below this column, and we would be happy to respond!