Human Services (BA)

What is A Human Services (BA) Degree?

The field of Human Services is about helping people, usually groups of people, to have better, more comfortable, healthier, and happier lives.  It’s a very broad field that draws from various disciplines to find strategies for helping. The groups of people helped may be people struggling with addictions, abused spouses, mentally challenged, or homeless. Human Services are different from Social Work in that Human Services professionals work with groups or populations of people—like a particular ethnic group or age group or in a location–with one concern or another.  Social workers work with individual clients.

To work in the Human Services means that you may have an administrative role, an organizing role, or a reference role in which you may set-up or recommend services within a particular community for a certain population.  The BA degree program in Human Services will include general education courses in psychology, sociology, research methods, and diversity, and human services courses in areas like groups skills, social policy, interpersonal helping skills, legal and ethical standards for human services, and crisis intervention.  You’ll be prepared to work as a case worker, child advocate, health aide, parole officer, community activist, or another similar helping position.