Do You Capitalize “Associate’s Degree”? Learn The Rules

The time has come; today is graduation day, and you are feeling proud of accomplishing that first step in higher education—your first certificate of completion after high school. But just when you finish posting “I got my Associate’s Degree today” on social media, you realize something. Were you supposed to capitalize “Associate’s Degree” or not?

The words “associate’s degree” do not require capitalization if referred to in a general way. According to the “Chicago Manual of Style,” names of degrees, fellowships, and similar are lowercase when referred to in a general way. The correct way to write it is “I got my associate’s degree today.“

Graduating from college is a rite of passage and one that should be accurately described. In the war over proper writing, grammar has the upper hand, and knowing how to spell a word says a lot about people; if you add adequate punctuation and capitalization, it shows how much you learned in school.

Academic Degrees

Academic degrees are the certification that you get after completing a period of education. There are for fundamental degrees:

1. Associate degree. An associate degree is a two-year program that provides the skills needed for an entry-level job, and it can also be a stepping stone into further learning.
2. Bachelor’s degree. A bachelor’s degree is a four-year program that provides a more intensive and deeper understanding of a field. It will end up giving the student a well-rounded education.
3. Master’s degree. A master’s degree is earned by the students who seek to specialize in a specific field of study. Getting a master is more complicated than getting a bachelor’s degree; depending on the university you attend, it might require the student to take additional exams or work on a thesis or case study.
4. Doctoral degree. The highest and most prestigious degree anyone can ever get is a doctoral degree. The student that chooses to venture into more specialization gets to learn under the top experts within a field. The decision to continue this path, which takes several years to complete, will provide the most profound understanding of the profession.

If you choose to tip your toes into college education, an associate degree would be an excellent place to start. Associate degrees are awarded to students after completing 60 academic credits, usually throughout two years of online or presential classes, with a full or part-time schedule.

Pursuing an associate degree is an excellent option for many reasons. Having the opportunity to acquire knowledge in a particular field is the primary goal of a college education. Still, other things could be beneficial from going through that experience.

More access to better job opportunities is something that can come from networking. During those years, the people you meet can open up doors to places you could have never imagined before. Building and maintaining a good professional network will bring you closer to getting a job in your field right out of college. Everyone you meet, from your favorite professor to the admin staff, is an asset.

Studies have shown that people who earn an associate degree can make more money than a high school graduate. Future economic stability is one of the top reasons why people would seek higher education.

Capitalization Rules for Academic Degrees

It is normal to feel that a degree should be capitalized when put in writing. It does give an additional sense of importance, but then again, we need to make sure we follow the rules of writing. When talking about most subjects or content areas, they are not capitalized because they are not regarded as proper nouns. Fields of study don’t fall under the requirements for capitalization (e.g., communications, medicine, business, technology, art, education, physiology, etc.)

if you use them as an identifier of a particular program in a school, then they can become nouns and be capitalized:

• I am studying communications at BYU’s School of Communications, and I hope to major in advertising.
• I have applied to the School of Education and look forward to learning the Montessori method for children.
• I am studying to get an associate degree in arts at the Academy of Art University.

Terms of degrees are never capitalized when referred to in a general way. And when speaking of an associate or a doctoral degree, no apostrophe is required.

The Don’ts

• I have an Associate’s Degree in Science.
• He has an Associate’s Degree of Science in Nursing.
• She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts.
• He has an Associate’s Degree of Arts in Teaching.
• She has a Doctoral Degree in Business Administration. 
• She has a Master’s Degree in Music. 
• They have an Associate’s Degree in Engineering.
• He has an Associate’s Degree in Physical Therapy.

The Do’s

• I have an associate degree in science. 
• He has an associate degree of science in nursing. 
• She has a bachelor’s degree in science. 
• He has an associate degree in arts in teaching. 
• She has a doctoral degree in business administration. 
• She has a master’s degree in music. 
• They have an associate degree in engineering.
• He has an associate degree in physical therapy.

If you are not 100% sure of which ones to capitalize or not, you can always write the full name of the degree, excluding the word degree; only then will it be okay to capitalize it.

1. I have an Associate of Science in Biology.
2. He has an Associate of Science in Nursing.
3. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Communications.
4. He has an Associate of Arts in Teaching.
5. She has a Doctorate of Business Administration.
6. She has a Master in Music.
7. They have an Associate of Engineering.
8. He has an Associate in Physical Therapy.

With academic abbreviations, it is correct to capitalize the letters of your degree, but make sure to omit the periods unless requested by the organization or to maintain consistency.

1. I have an AS. I earned my associate degree from NYU, an Associate of Science.
2. John, on the other hand, has an ASN. He earned his associate degree from Johns Hopkins University, an Associate of Science in Nursing.
3. Keira has a BFA. She got her bachelor’s degree from the School of Art Institute of Chicago, a Bachelor of Fine Arts.
4. Michael has an AAT. He earned his associate degree from NYU. an Associate of Arts in Teaching.
5. Melissa has a DBA. She just got her doctoral degree from Yale University, a Doctorate of Business Administration.
6. Clara has an MM. She earned a master’s degree in music from Juilliard, a Master of Music. She loves the piano.
7. Both Vero and Dania have an AE. They earned their associate degrees in engineering from MIT, an Associate of Engineering.
8. Carlos has an APT. He earned his associate degree in physical therapy from NYU, an Associate in Physical Therapy.

When to Capitalize a Degree

Academic degrees are only capitalized when the specific name of the degree is written. Whenever it is used in a general way in a conversation, it must be written in lowercase. There is an exception, and it is when you are a language major; because it is a language, the rule for languages states that languages should always have the first letter capital. So if the person has a “master’s degree in French,” the language is considered a proper noun; hence, it is capital.

Conclusion

Always keep in mind that, in general, we don’t capitalize degrees or subject areas. Whenever you refer to a degree informally, keep it lowercase. And whether you get an associate, a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree is up to you; just keep in mind that if you generalize it, don’t capitalize it.