Great point about tech vs artistry, @CaMom13 ! If someone is interested in doing design work, making things, etc., in addition to the tech side, the BFA likely serves those needs well.
My daughter was in acting, not tech, but the majors were very similar (same dept). They all took the basic classes and then went into their specialty, so an actor would take basic lighting, costume design, etc, but then take more acting classes and no more tech classes. There were 65 credits in the theater and dance dept, and there were still the A&S core requirements, and the university core requirements. With another major in the A&S college, there was usually 40-45 credits in the major and the rest could be taken in other depts, for a major, etc. Those getting BFAs had very few ‘extra’ credits to take in another dept.
I just don’t see the advantage in the BFA over a BA. Will theaters not hire a tech person because they have a BA and not a BFA?
Sounds like the BA you are describing is a general theatre BA, @twoinanddone – and you have highlighted how such a program provides choices for students. It is important to consider how the 120’ish credits for a Bachelor’s degree are divided up between general ed vs collateral courses vs courses in the major vs hands-on production credits.
Digging down into specifics at the course level is helpful when comparing programs. What sort of program is the student looking for? Every student will have their own preferences based on what they are seeking to do after graduation.
@twoinanddone wrote:
At a recent parent info session, a faculty member answered this question: “An IATSE card is more important than either degree.”
Enjoying this discussion, especially as I have daughter looking at both BFA and BA programs. If she goes BA, she may be interested in minoring in something related to early childhood development or education – several people have suggested to her that she might be good at designing exhibits for childrens museums etc. @OrangeFish, I love that quote. The big question to me is what do you need to do to get an IATSE card. Does the BA give you enough hands-on technical experience to be able to get those kinds of jobs? I realize that the answer may vary depending on the individual school/programs.
@Bubblewrap666 – I stumbled across an older thread on the techtheatre subreddit titled something like “How do I join IATSE?” – a Google search should find it for you. Short version is “it depends on the local” which is pretty similar to “it depends on the school/program”. 
It will really depend on the courses and the faculty, in addition to the student’s interest. My D looked at course listings at several schools (both BA and BFA). When she saw the one course she was most looking forward to taking being offered when she would be a senior, or not being offered at all, she flagged a school as not being the best one for her.
Taking a single course in costume design does not necessarily make one a costume designer.
D just got a IATSE card – she was asked to be wardrobe asst on a tour, and thus needed to be union, so the company made sure the appropriate paperwork happened. She graduated BS Theatre Tech last May. She had concentrated on lighting design in school, yet ended up getting a IATSE card for costuming as her first, which shows that these things aren’t necessarily straightforward paths. (Side note: if she’d gone on the tour as an electrician, the company would’ve gotten her into the appropriate local for that craft, which I think might be different than the local for costuming – really, the important thing is that SHE knows what the heck is up with all of this.)
She plans to join other unions as she goes along. Her school (Univ of Evansville) had coursework explaining joining unions, which unions were which, and how all of it works. I sort of assumed most schools have some way in which they convey this basic information of How to Life Once You Graduate With a Degree in Theatre Tech. At UE they do mock interviews at least once a semester, discuss how the unions work, etc, etc, etc. She came out of school with a basic understanding of living a life going from gig to gig, with all that entails.
Also, I assume your students will be doing summer internships. They will be building their resumes and also building relationships with people all over the country, learning about all sorts of things during those months.
So I have to share this as I think only parents of techies will understand. My D has been awarded a couple of Theater dept honors as a Senior and we are, of course, very proud and happy that her work has been appreciated by her dept because that rarely happens when you work behind the scenes. BUT - because of these honors she has to give a couple of public presentations. She is so irritated about this!!! She really doesn’t want appear in front of an audience. The girl lives and breathes Theater… as long as it’s not her in the spotlight. I really had to laugh. Maybe it’s a good thing that backstage folks are so infrequently “honored”. 
LOL @CaMom13 – you SO described my D! She is NOT A FAN of appearing before an audience!
I knew someone else would get a chuckle out of it @OrangeFish - they truly are their own unique theatre “tribe”.
I get how it works, I just don’t know why having a BFA with 65 credits in theater is better than a BA in theater with 40-45 credits in theater and 20-25 credits in something else to get to the 120 to graduate. My daughter’s school didn’t offer a BA, so it was the whole 65 credits or nothing. You could not combine theater with a teaching certificate. WIth the 65 theater credits and about 35-40 general core class requirements (6 science, 6 humanities, 9-16 foreign language, 6 writing, math) there just isn’t a lot of room to explore other areas.
Are those 25 extra credits in theater worth it to get the BFA? Does the BFA have added value over the BA? That’s what I don’t understand. My daughter decided it wasn’t worth it and switched majors.
I seem to recall a discussion from last year that came down to the idea that BFA is better for students who like that sort of program, and BA or BS is better for students who like those particular course offerings. I believe someone likened a BFA to more of an apprenticeship … but I can’t remember the actual words used, which is a shame because it absolutely clicked in my mind and all made sense. The main point, though, is that for some students that’s absolutely perfect, and they’ll thrive. Other students will be happier with a different mix.
Faculty from D’s school have commented that they don’t really see a huge difference in the end product.
In other words, no, it doesn’t really matter BFA vs BA vs BS as far as quality or value of degree. What matters is if the student ends up having to take a bunch of credit hours in courses they loathe or consider a waste of time.
For my D, she has shifted around with sometimes preferring an intensive BA and other times a BFA. There is no Quality of Degree moniker on a program type.
Currently, she is siding with the BFA as she values the extra production credits for hands-on experience in her specialty. She would not get that amount of hands-on time with a BA. However, she cannot minor in something else as she has all the production credit requirements.
Give her a week and she will have likely changed her mind again.
I’m wondering how important faculty connections in the industry are in securing a job after graduation? If the student is working summer internships, could those connections compensate for a lack of faculty connections? Just wondering how high we should rank “faculty connections” in the decision making process.
@RKmom – I think it would matter who the student is working with during the summer internships (or the faculty the student is working with on productions at the school).
If your student is working with Lin-Manuel Miranda during the summer internship, I would think that would help compensate for lack of faculty connections. In the ideal world, the student is working a summer with Lin-Manuel Miranda AND working with faculty with connections on productions at school.
ETA: I guess that could be flipped around, too – where a student got to work with LMM at school. I wonder what THAT would do to the application/interview season at a school?!?
@RKmom I can tell you that in the one example I have (my D) faculty connections really helped her get great internships and summer jobs. She did much of her own footwork to find summer jobs and she’s (sorry, proud mom being honest here) really good at what she does but the fact that her mentors are well-known helped to legitimize her - if that makes sense? So if you have faculty with connections but they don’t exert themselves to help students or you have students who aren’t go-getters, then I think connections don’t really matter. If you have faculty who are well-known or know a lot of people in the industry and they will mentor and assist their students it can make a world of difference.
And if there’s a summer job working with Lin-Manuel I will work cheap/free, I will pay my own living and travel expenses and I make great coffee. Just sayin’.
Faculty connections have been very important for D, but that doesn’t mean that they’re necessary. One of her BFFs did multiple summers at the same place and thus built deep connections that way. OTOH, the faculty at their school really advocate for internships, so that might have been the basis for the internships in the first place … but on yet ANOTHER other hand, it also depends on the students building the relationships, because if they’re just wandering through life obliviously, the faculty can’t really force them to apply anyplace.
So, in summary, what @CaMom said a couple of comments back rings true here, too. Faculty connections are great if the faculty and student actually use them.
D has commented that her class tended to be very close, and tend to lift each other up – a bunch of them are in NYC now, living together and helping each other find work. She’s talked to people from other programs where that hasn’t been the case – the competition about who got to do what during the school year made the relationships between classmates seem a bit more strained. I really don’t think there’s a way you can judge that going in, though, although there was a program we visited once where I had the impression the kids on the student panel didn’t actually like each other … but, hey, maybe it was just those 5 individuals, or maybe just a bad week, who knows?
@CaMom13 you make a good point. It isn’t just the connections, but the faculty’s willingness to use them and the student’s ability to make the most of the opportunity. I don’t worry about my son seeking out opportunities or making the most of them once he gets there. He has already proven to be really good at both of those things. And since the faculty at a particular school were really touting their connections to my son, I hope that means they would be willing to use them. For the most part, the faculty he has interviewed with so far at every school (five interviews down, one to go) have really been lovely people - kind, encouraging, engaging, well-spoken. I’d like to think they’d do everything they can to help their students succeed.
@“Jamieand Winthrop” It’s interesting you say this because my son just interviewed at a school yesterday where a professor was talking about the importance of the students working well together and that those relationships could be the connections that helped them get work in the future. I hadn’t thought of that aspect before. I would love for my son to be part of a program like your daughter’s - where they lift each other up and don’t let the competition for show assignments come between them.