Abbreviations

A.B. (no space after first period)—abbreviation for Artium baccalaureus, bachelor of arts, the degree Colby grants
B.A.—bachelor of arts
M.B.A.—master of business administration
Ed.D.—doctor of education.

Right: James T. Kirk has a Ph.D. in astronomy.
James T. Kirk has a doctorate in astronomy.

The word degree should not follow a degree abbreviation, and the degree initials (A.B.) should not be used with a Colby class year.

Wrong: He has a B.A. degree in history.
Right: He has a B.A. in history.
Right: She earned her Ph.D. at Harvard.
Wrong: Dan Harris ’93, B.A., is an author and a newsman.

When referring to degrees in general, lowercase the first letter of the degree and use the apostrophe + s (’s).

Right: They all had doctoral degrees in engineering.
Right: He earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics.
Right: She earned two master’s degrees.

Lowercase formal names of academic degrees: bachelor of science, bachelor of arts, master of arts, doctor of philosophy. Colby degree: bachelor of arts (written out) and A.B. (abbreviation for the Latin Artium baccalaureus)

Abbreviate months (Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec.) if you include a date. Do not abbreviate months when used alone or only with a year. Do not abbreviate March, April, May, June, or July.

Spell out the names of states when they stand alone. Abbreviate according to AP (below), not postal rules when a state is listed with a city or town in text. Use a comma following the state name when the sentence continues.

Right: The sophomore came from Lompoc, Calif., to study chemistry.

Spell out names of countries when they stand alone. Use United States as a noun; use U.S. as a modifier.

Right: We enrolled students from Labasa, Fiji, and Lusaka, Zambia, in the current class.
Right: U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela Patrick Duddy ’72 returned to the United States.