Public Affairs Office
Classes, Disciplines, Degrees, & Other College Matters
Academic disciplines and programs: lowercase is preferred. Example:majors in religion, art, physics; the humanities program
Only languages should be capitalized. Note that theatre at Reed is spelled with an "re."
Degrees:
B.A., M.A., Ph.D., MALS, MAT, bachelor's degree, master's degree
Class standings: lowercase is preferred. Example:
first-year student (preferred to freshman), sophomore, junior, senior
Formal course names: are rarely used in copy; we prefer to lowercase and use informally:
She taught a class on social psychology (instead of "She taught Social Psychology.").
Forms: generally, lowercase names of forms:
add/drop form, application for admission, declaration of major form. Some federal financial aid forms have particular styles: PROFILE, FAFSA.
Senior thesis, oral examination, and junior qualifying examination (or junior qual): lowercase.
