Bachelor of Arts

[nietzsche]

What is the origin of the "Bachelor" part of degree notations such as Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science? Is it from when it was fashionable to send fine young bachelors into education?

[Clanad]

Fairly close, nietzsche...actually two words associated with receiving and education are represented here.., baccalaureate comes from the medieval Latin "baccalaris," a young nobleman seeking to become a knight. The same source gives us bachelor, originally a young knight serving under another's banner.  In the Middle Ages the Bachelor of Arts degree was awarded to a young man who had completed his study of the liberal arts.  (Source - Elizabethtown College)

[Quizmonster]

The word 'bachelor' comes ultimately from the Latin 'baccalaris', as Clanad says, which related to a subdivision of land. The person to whom it belonged probably worked for a larger land-owner...a kind of share-cropper, it would seem.
In 13th century England, the word meant a junior knight, not old enough or rich enough to fly his own banner. Notice the 'subordinate' concept yet again. By the 14th century, it had come to be applied to a first degree, again to indicate that the holder had not yet attained a Master's position/degree. Basically, then, the word has just meant 'junior' for centuries. (Incidentally, it was not applied to an unmarried man until later than its application to the first degree.)