Names of specific course titles should be capitalized, but general academic subjects are not. In your first example “liberal arts and sciences, chemical technology and computer science” are referred to generically, therefore do not capitalize. Names of academic degrees are not capitalized, however, specific program names are generally capitalized.
· But when writing your cover letter, it’s best to only capitalize the names of actual courses, schools and subjects. Do not capitalize when making a general reference to a profession or industry, as it tends to divert the reader’s attention away from your actual message. Capitalize the First Word of a Sentence. This one’s easy.
Course titles . Official names of academic courses are capitalized. Search the catalog for the correct course title. Adrian is enrolled in Mass Communication and Human Behavior. Government references . Do not capitalize federal, state, or city unless part of an official name. city of Flagstaff state of Arizona federal government
So, in an attempt to shed light on this mess, here we go:
When you are talking about a school subject in a general way, you do not need to capitalize it unless it is the name of a language. For example, math and chemistry do not need to be capitalized, but French and Spanish do need to be capitalized because they are proper nouns.
When you are talking about the name of a specific class or course, such as Math 241 or Chemistry 100, always capitalize it. Capitalize course titles such as History of the French Revolution and Childhood Psychology. The following example sentences show when to capitalize a school subject, and when not to.
Course titles Official names of academic courses are capitalized.
Capitalize correctly But when writing your cover letter, it's best to only capitalize the names of actual courses, schools and subjects. Do not capitalize when making a general reference to a profession or industry, as it tends to divert the reader's attention away from your actual message.
Courses and Departments Capitalize the names of specific courses (exact titles) not uses that are more general, for example, Linear Algebra 1 vs. mathematics courses.
Headlines and course titles are not italicized.
Academic Majors, Minors/Courses Lowercase all majors except those containing proper nouns. (His major is English; her major is engineering. Sue is majoring in Asian studies.) General subjects are lowercase (algebra, chemistry), but the names of specific courses are capitalized (Algebra I, Introduction to Sociology).
If you prefer to (or need to) say its full name, make the title in italics or underline. Quotation marks are additional characters, and less is better. Just put it in capital letters.
Academic degrees are capitalized only when the full name of the degree is used, such as Bachelor of Arts or Master of Engineering. General references, such as bachelor's, master's or doctoral degree, are not capitalized.
The Associated Press Stylebook (AP) recommends no capitals when referring to degrees in general terms (bachelor's, master's, doctorate, associate degree) but always capitalizing specific degrees (Bachelor of Arts, Master of Science).
The Master of Arts Degree in Counseling Psychology offers two tracks. Capitalize names of academic departments or University offices when they are proper nouns. However, do not capitalize the word department when it follows the name of the program.
However, the “rulebook” instructs that most subject or content areas are not capitalized, because they aren't “proper nouns.” Proper nouns are specific persons, places or things. Therefore, do not capitalize fields of study (e.g. biology, business, education, leadership, psychology, environmental science, etc.).
Do not capitalize articles (a, an, the), the coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet), or the words to and as unless such a word is the first or last word in the title or subtitle.
College majors are not capitalized because they are not proper nouns (a noun – person, place, or thing – that identifies a single entity; e.g. London, Sara, Microsoft). Only proper nouns are capitalized. For instance you’d say, “I majored in physics, but flunked Physics 101.”. In this sentence, the word physics is a generic word but ...
An apostrophe is a punctuation mark that is used to indicate possession. When you’re mentioning that something is either a bachelor’s degree or a master’s degree you’ll want to use this punctuation mark in your writing. However, when you’re writing out the full name of the degree (e.g. Bachelor of Science, Master of Arts) you don’t need ...
When you are abbreviating an academic degree you should omit the periods. The only time you shouldn’t do so is when the periods are being used for traditional or consistency’s sake. One example of this is a university bulletin that’s always used periods to abbreviate the degrees that their faculty members hold (e.g. B.A., Ph.D., M.S.). It’s important to note that these abbreviations should only be used in text when you have several people whom you need to identify alongside their academic degree. Doing so while also listing their full names would appear cumbersome here.
However, when you’re writing out the full name of the degree (e.g. Bachelor of Science, Master of Arts) you don’t need to use an apostrophe. You also should never use an apostrophe when making reference to either an associate or a doctoral degree.
When you are simply making a general reference to a degree (master’s, doctoral, bachelor’s), there’s no need to capitalize them. For instance: She earned a bachelor’s degree in 1997. With most types of writing it is preferred to simply use the general terms (e.g. bachelor’s / bachelor’s degree; master’s / master’s degree; doctorate / doctoral degree) instead of writing out the full name of the degree or even just its initials. Only when someone has a MD (medical degree) after their name are they to be referred to as “Dr.” and then you should only refer to them in this manner when you first reference them in your writing.
For instance you’d say, “I majored in physics, but flunked Physics 101.”. In this sentence, the word physics is a generic word but the phrase Physics 101 is used in referring to a specific class. This is different when referring to languages (e.g. Spanish, English, Japanese) because languages are considered to be proper nouns. ...
When you’re listing the names of alumni in your writing a bachelor’s degree is considered to be the default and you don’t need to write any letter next to it. However, you would need to write the following letters next to the other degrees: “A” for associate, “M” for master’s, and “D” for doctorate.
1. Capitalize when the title is part of the name and directly precedes it: 2. Use lowercase when the title is a descriptive tag: 3. Use lowercase when the title follows the name: These rules also apply to titles such as president, provost, director, dean, chair, and other academic titles.
The more words you capitalize, the more you complicate your text. 2. Capitalize the formal (complete) names of university colleges and departments: College of Arts and Letters. Comptroller’s Office.
Do not capitalize university unless used within a complete, formal title. Northern Arizona University offers courses in a variety of disciplines through the Grand Canyon Semester. The university partners with Grand Canyon National Park to offer courses in the field. 4.
An academic subject is an area of knowledge that is studied at the school. A course is a specific class taken at the school. Medical biology is one of those tricky terms that could be used as a subject or a specific course title. You have to look at the way it is used in the sentence to identify it.
The Chicago Manual of Style says, “Capitalize degrees on business cards, on diplomas, or when displayed in a directory or resume.”. Otherwise, academic subjects are not capitalized. The abbreviation for master of education is EdM.
The Associated Press Stylebook ( AP) recommends no capitals when referring to degrees in general terms ( bachelor’s, master’s, doctorate, associate degree) but always capitalizing specific degrees ( Bachelor of Arts, Master of Science ).
As the post indicates, there are exceptions. Degrees are often capitalized on business cards, on diplomas, in promotional material, or when displayed in a directory or resume. If you are following the rules of the Associated Press Stylebook, the degree is capitalized.
Yes, AP Style does say to capitalize academic degrees. Do not capitalize the word “dual” unless it is the first word of a sentence. Also, use the word and rather than an ampersand ( &) in formal writing, especially on a resume. dual Bachelors of Arts, public relations and journalism.
In your first example “liberal arts and sciences, chemical technology and computer science” are referred to generically, therefore do not capitalize. Names of academic degrees are not capitalized, however, specific program names are generally capitalized.
AP Stylebook does not capitalize the terms “master’s degree” or “bachelor’s degree.”. AP spells academic departments and programs in lowercase except for words that are proper nouns or adjectives or when the department name is part of the official and formal name preceded by the university or college.