The following are the correct ways to handle degrees:
- bachelor’s degree in physical education. Note, it is not a B.S. degree or Bachelor of Arts degree.
- master’s degree in comparative literature. The same thing applies as in the above. M.A, M.S. or master’s of art or science are all incorrect.
- a doctorate in math. Doctorate degree is redundant; Ph.D. is incorrect style.
- Note in both the bachelor’s and master’s degrees, the first letters are lower case, and the possessive “s” follows an apostrophe.
- Use lowercase except for words that are proper nouns or adjectives: history department, mathematics department, English department and Spanish department. If the department is used with the formal name of the college then it is capitalized.
- Use lowercase except for areas of study that are proper nouns and adjectives.
- He is studying political science but wants to major in English literature.
- She is a German major but spends most of her time with arts majors.
- For specific courses, capitalize and spell out the discipline and use a figure. On first reference, include the full title of the course, capitalized, in quotation marks.
- I’m taking Journalism 101, “Introduction to News Writing and Reporting.”
- After taking Art 101, “Understanding Art,” she decided to change her major.
| First Reference | Second Reference |
| The Board of Trustees | ...the board or the trustees |
| The Associated Students Senate | ...the senate or the student senate |
| The Academic Senate | ...the senate or the faculty senate |
| The International Students Club | ...the club |
| The Faculty Enrichment Committee | ...the committee |