Abbreviations and Acronyms
Abbreviations should be restricted to situations where they enhance comprehension; that is, when your copy refers repeatedly to a lengthy name or term that has a commonly accepted abbreviation.
In General
- Use abbreviations sparingly unless your readership is familiar with them.
- Spell out the abbreviation on its first occurrence and follow with the abbreviation in parentheses to prepare readers for your subsequent use of the abbreviation.
- Avoid using periods in abbreviations, unless confusion might result (e.g., write VP rather than V.P.)
Acronyms and Initialisms
Acronyms are abbreviations that are pronounced as a word, such as NASA, CIRES, and INSTAAR. Initialisms are abbreviations that are pronounced as a series of letters, such as ATM, DNA, and UMC.
Articles (a, an, and the) with Abbreviations
Use the appropriate article (a, an, or the) with abbreviations when you would use that article in speech. The choice between using a or an is determined by how the abbreviation is pronounced. You generally do not need an article when an abbreviation is used as a noun.
- She is enrolled in an MBA program.
- They may be eligible for a HUD grant.
- LASP researchers designed and built an $88 million satellite for NASA.
Abbreviations That Stand Alone
GPA and SAT are not spelled out. In fact, SAT is no longer an abbreviation; it is a trademark.
Ampersand (&)
Do not use the ampersand (&) as an abbreviation for and. Use the ampersand only when it is part of an official name of a company, product, or other proper noun; or on covers and display matter, at the discretion of the designer.
Degrees
CU-Boulder style is to omit periods from abbreviations of academic degrees. When the abbreviation may be unfamiliar to the reader, we recommend either using the familiar generic degree (such as BA, BS, MA, PhD, MBA) along with the subcategory spelled out, or spelling out the entire degree. When it's clear from the context that the degree is a bachelor's, master's, or doctorate, you may omit the level of degree and just provide the field abbreviation in parentheses, as is common in various alumni publications (see second example).
Note: When spelling out degrees, use lowercase: bachelor of science, master of business administration, bachelor's degree, master's degree, doctorate.
Sharon Kurrant completed a BS in electrical engineering last May. Her brother earned his doctor of musical arts degree three years ago. Her sister is working on a BA in English.
(Note that English is capitalized because it is a proper noun.)
Orlando Smith (BEnvd '03) returned to CU-Boulder in 2005 to work on his master's degree in environmental design.
Sherry Crown (MMus '02) performs regularly as a guest clarinetist with a number of symphony orchestras around the country. (for an alumni publication)
BUT (for a general readership): Sherry Crown ('02), who holds a master's degree in music from CU-Boulder, performs regularly as a guest clarinetist with a number of symphony orchestras around the country.
Abbreviations of Boulder Campus Degrees
Boulder campus degrees currently granted (2007-08) in a given field are indicated in parentheses after the field name. Not all fields of study are currently available as listed; those entries that indicate a discipline only are listed for alumni communication purposes.
| Main Degree Categories | Abbreviation |
|---|---|
| bachelor of arts | BA |
| bachelor of science | BS |
| master of arts | MA |
| master of science | MS |
| doctor of philosophy | PhD |
| juris doctor | JD |
| Major Fields of Study | Abbreviation |
| anthropology (BA, MA, PhD) | Anth |
| applied mathematics (BS, MS, PhD) | ApMath |
| art (see fine arts) | |
| Asian studies (BA) | Asian |
| astronomy (BA) | Astro |
| astrophysical, planetary, and atmospheric sciences (MS, PhD) | Astro |
| atmospheric and oceanic sciences (MS, PhD) | PAOS |
| biochemistry (BA) | BioChem |
| biology Bio | |
| ecology and evolutionary (BA, MA, PhD) | EBio |
| microbiology | MicroBio |
| molecular, cellular, and developmental biology (BA, MA, PhD) | MCDB |
| business administration (BS, MS, MBA, PhD) | Bus |
| chemical physics (PhD) | ChemPhys |
| chemistry (BA, MS, PhD) | Chem |
| Chinese (BA) | Chin |
| classics (BA, MA, PhD) | Class |
| cognitive science (PhD) | CogSci |
| communication (BA, MA, PhD) | Comm |
| comparative literature (MA, PhD) | CompLit |
| computer science (see engineering) | |
| dance (BA, BFA, MFA) | Dance |
| distributed studies (BA) | DistSt |
| East Asian languages and civilizations (MA) | EAsia |
| economics (BA, MA, PhD) | Econ |
| education (all categories) (No undergraduate degrees; certificate in education awarded to bachelor's degree students who complete a teacher education program.) (MA, PhD) | Edu |
| engineering | Engr |
| aerospace engineering sciences (BS, MS, PhD) | AeroEngr |
| architectural engineering (BS) | ArchEngr |
| chemical engineering (BS, MS, PhD) | ChemEngr |
| civil engineering (BS, MS, PhD) | CivEngr |
| computer science (BS, MS, PhD) | CompSci |
| electrical engineering (BS, MS, PhD) | ElEngr |
| electrical and computer engineering (BS) | ElCompEngr |
| engineering physics (BS) | EngrPhys |
| environmental engineering (BS) | EnvEngr |
| mechanical engineering (BS, MS, PhD) | MechEngr |
| telecommunications (MS) | Tele |
| English (literature and creative writing) (BA, MA, PhD) | Engl |
| environmental design (BEnvd) | EnvDes |
| environmental studies (BA, MS, PhD) | EnvSt |
| ethnic studies (BA) | EthSt |
| film studies (BA, BFA) | Film |
| fine arts (all categories) (BA, BFA, MA, MFA) | Art |
| French (BA, MA, PhD) | French |
| geography (BA, MA, PhD) | Geog |
| geology (BA, MS, PhD) | Geol |
| geophysics (PhD) | GeoPhys |
| German (MA) | Ger |
| Germanic Studies (BA) | GermSt |
| history (BA, MA, PhD) | Hist |
| humanities (BA) | Hum |
| individually structured major (BA) | Indiv |
| integrative physiology (BA, MS, PhD) | IPhy |
| international affairs (BA) | IntlAf |
| Italian (BA) | Ital |
| Japanese (BA) | Jpn |
| journalism (BS, MA) | Jour |
| law (JD) | Law |
| linguistics (BA, MA, PhD) | Ling |
| mathematics (BA, MA, PhD) | Math |
| museum and field studies (MS) | MFSt |
| music (BMus, MMus, PhD) | Mus |
| music education (BMusEd, MMusEd) | MusEd |
| musical arts (DMusA) | MusA |
| neuroscience (PhD) | Nrsc |
| philosophy (BA, MA, PhD) | Phil |
| physics (BA, MS, PhD) | Phys |
| political science (BA, MA, PhD) | PolSci |
| psychology (BA, MA, PhD) | Psych |
| religious studies (BA, MA) | RelSt |
| Russian studies (BA) | RusSt |
| sociology (BA, MA, PhD) | Soc |
| Spanish (BA, MA, PhD) | Span |
| speech, language, and hearing sciences (BA, MA, PhD) | Spch |
| telecommunications (MS) | TeleCom |
| theatre (BA, BFA, MA, PhD) | Thtr |
| women and gender studies (BA) | WomSt |
| Honorary Degree | Abbreviation |
| humanities | HonDocHum |
| law | HonDocLaw |
| science | HonDocSci |
Graduation Year with Degree
When including a graduation or expected graduation year with a degree, abbreviate the year, add an apostrophe, and include a space between the year and the degree.
State Abbreviations
Use the U.S. Postal Service format (two letters, no periods) when you must abbreviate state names. In running text, unless the copy is a lengthy list of place names, it’s preferable to spell out the state name, especially if your audience might include international readers. Note that the third example needs semicolons between entries because individual items in the list include commas.
- The class of 12 included students from Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Montana, Minnesota, and West Virginia.
- Research was conducted in Mesa, Arizona, and Las Vegas, Nevada.
- Those responding to the call for special funds included alumni from Harrisburg, PA; Fargo, ND; Miami, FL; San Jose, CA; Midland, TX; Shreveport, LA; and Hope, AR.
United States
Use periods with the two-letter abbreviation for United States. Do not use periods with the three-letter abbreviation for United States of America. Use the abbreviation U.S. only as an adjective. Spell out United States when it is a noun.
- The U.S. government is one of the nation’s largest employers.
- Most of their products were made in the USA.
- CU-Boulder is recognized as one of the premier public universities in the United States.