Michaelangelo once said, "A man paints with his brains and not with his hands." At Princeton University, "Arts" is a broad field of study in many artistic expressions: film, theater and dance to name a few. However, Arts students pursue an MA at Princeton in programs such as Near Eastern Studies. Harvard offers MA degrees in Historical Linguistics and Linguistic Theory, the study of cultural language patterns. A Masters student in Arts may take "French New Wave Cinema" or "Theory of Media" courses at Yale University. The Masters of Arts degree is widely applied to the diversity of Arts studies.
A Masters of Science (MS) degree applies to a scientific intellectual. At Harvard, Masters students study mathematics, physics, bioengineering, computer science, electrical engineering, environmental sciences, engineering and mechanical engineering. Computer science specialists, for example, take courses such as "networking & systems" as well as "theory and computation." Bioengineering students must take courses like "biomechanics and instrumentation & robotics." Applied Physics students enter the workforce with course credit in "optics, electromagnetics, and light-matter interactions." Harvard's Environmental Sciences program requires subjects such as "climate dynamics & physical oceanography." In all forms, Masters of Science graduates are empowered to enhance science in society.
Prospective Masters students must check with learning institutions for required courses and program restrictions. For example, Yale University's Film Studies students apply program learning to several Arts faculties such as history, sociology and comparative literature. Other schools' programs are rigidly restrictive. As of 2010, Princeton University offered only five Masters degree programs. Harvard English students cannot pursue an MA degree unless they also pursue a Ph.D. In addition, you should check on college and university transfer rules if you switch schools to pursue your Masters. Armed with your Bachelor's degree, the pursuit of a Masters degree paves the road to two different schools of intellectual discipline.