Degrees
It is acceptable to spell out the degree or to abbreviate it, depending on the context.
When describing and spelling out a degree, use lower case and apostrophes.
- There are many baccalaureate degrees.
- He earned a bachelor’s degree in physics. She is working towards a master’s degree.
- She has a bachelor of arts degree in English.
- The Faculty of Graduate Studies conferred 97 master’s degrees in the Fall convocation.
When abbreviating a degree, omit periods and punctuation marks.
- BA MA PhD LLB LLD LLM DJur DLitt BJ BSc MES MSW
Within the body of a text, details of a degree may be written out as follows.
- Dale Smith earned her BA (Honours) in history.
- Judy Shreiber graduated with a master’s degree last year.
Within a graduate profile, shorten as much as possible, including the year of graduation.
- Dale Smith (BA Hons. `79) now works in Guam as a consultant.
- July Shreiber (MA `98) is now pursuing doctoral work at Harvard University.
When writing for the Class Notes column in Profiles, alumni are organized in sections according to their year of graduation.
- Under the section heading 1979: Dale Smith (BA Hons. Vanier).
- Under the section heading 1998: Judy Shreiber (MA Grad. Studies).
When using articles with degrees, use the article appropriate when pronouncing the abbreviation.
- an MA in political science (not a MA)
- an MSc in theoretical physics (not a MSc)
- a BA in philosophy