Degree Abbreviations
139 abbreviations · part of Education & Academic Abbreviations
Abbreviations for academic degrees from the associate level to the doctorate, including professional degrees in law, medicine, nursing and theology and the British and Commonwealth forms that differ from American usage. Entries give the field, typical length of study, who awards the degree and how it is written after a name. The Chicago Manual of Style now prefers degree abbreviations without periods (BA, PhD), while AP style keeps them (B.A., Ph.D.) and advises using them only after a full name.
| Abbreviation | Stands for | Description |
|---|---|---|
| AA | Associate of Arts | Two-year undergraduate degree of about 60 semester credits centered on general education in the humanities, social sciences and communication. |
| AAS | Associate of Applied Science | Career-focused associate degree that prepares students to enter a specific occupation, such as welding technology, dental hygiene, paralegal studies or culinary arts… |
| AAT | Associate of Arts in Teaching | Transfer degree for future teachers that combines general education with introductory education courses and supervised classroom observation. |
| AB | Artium Baccalaureus (Bachelor of Arts) | Latin word-order form of the Bachelor of Arts awarded by Harvard, Princeton, Brown, Dartmouth and several other older American colleges. |
| ADN | Associate Degree in Nursing | Umbrella term for any associate-level nursing program, usually two to three years including prerequisites, that ends with eligibility for the NCLEX-RN exam. |
| AFA | Associate of Fine Arts | Studio-focused two-year degree in visual art, music, theater, dance or creative writing with a larger share of portfolio or performance courses than an AA. |
| AGS | Associate in General Studies | Flexible associate degree that lets students combine courses from many disciplines without declaring a concentration. |
| ALM | Artium Liberalium Magister (Master of Liberal Arts) | Master's degree awarded by Harvard Extension School in fields such as management, biology, journalism and psychology, earned largely through evening and online courses… |
| AM | Artium Magister (Master of Arts) | Latin word-order form of the Master of Arts awarded by Harvard's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Brown and the University of Chicago, among others. |
| AOS | Associate in Occupational Studies | Associate degree awarded mainly by career schools, especially in New York, for intensive occupational programs such as culinary arts, automotive technology or audio… |
| AS | Associate of Science | Associate degree of roughly 60 credits weighted toward mathematics, laboratory sciences and technical coursework. |
| ASN | Associate of Science in Nursing | Two-year nursing degree offered mostly by community colleges that qualifies graduates to take the NCLEX-RN licensing exam. |
| AuD | Doctor of Audiology | Four-year clinical doctorate that is the entry-level degree for audiologists, who diagnose hearing loss and balance disorders and fit hearing aids and cochlear implants. |
| BA | Bachelor of Arts | Undergraduate degree, usually four years in the US and three in England and Wales, in the humanities, social sciences, languages and arts, and at many liberal arts… |
| BArch | Bachelor of Architecture | Five-year professional architecture degree, accredited in the US by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), that lets graduates begin the experience and… |
| BAS | Bachelor of Applied Science | Bachelor's degree designed to accept technical associate credits, especially the AAS, and add upper-division management, communication and general education courses. |
| BBA | Bachelor of Business Administration | Four-year undergraduate business degree covering accounting, finance, marketing, management, economics and business law, usually with a concentration chosen by the… |
| BCom | Bachelor of Commerce | Undergraduate business degree in Canada, India, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Ireland. |
| BD | Bachelor of Divinity | Theology degree that in Scotland and parts of the Commonwealth serves as an undergraduate or graduate-entry route to ministry, and at Oxford and Cambridge historically… |
| BDS | Bachelor of Dental Surgery | Five-year undergraduate dental degree that qualifies graduates to register as dentists in the UK, India, Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere. |
| BE | Bachelor of Engineering | Engineering degree title used in India, Pakistan, New Zealand and at a few American schools such as Dartmouth, where students add a fifth year after the AB to earn the… |
| BEd | Bachelor of Education | Teacher-preparation degree combining subject knowledge, pedagogy and supervised student teaching. |
| BEng | Bachelor of Engineering | Accredited undergraduate engineering degree in the UK, Ireland, Australia, Hong Kong and elsewhere, typically three years in England and four in Scotland and Australia. |
| BFA | Bachelor of Fine Arts | Professional undergraduate degree in visual or performing arts in which roughly two-thirds of coursework is studio, rehearsal or performance work. |
| BGS | Bachelor of General Studies | Interdisciplinary bachelor's degree with few major requirements, aimed at adult and transfer students who want to combine credits from several fields. |
| BMus | Bachelor of Music | Professional undergraduate music degree in performance, composition, music education, theory or music therapy, with intensive private lessons, ensembles and juried… |
| BPharm | Bachelor of Pharmacy | Undergraduate pharmacy degree, usually four years, that is the entry qualification for pharmacists in India, Pakistan, Nigeria, South Africa and several other countries. |
| BS | Bachelor of Science | Four-year undergraduate degree emphasizing mathematics, natural sciences, engineering, technology, business or health, with more major and laboratory credits than a… |
| BSBA | Bachelor of Science in Business Administration | Undergraduate business degree similar to the BBA but titled as a science degree, sometimes with extra quantitative requirements such as calculus, statistics or… |
| BSc | Bachelor of Science | Standard undergraduate science degree in the UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, India and much of the Commonwealth, lasting three years in England and four in Scotland. |
| BSCS | Bachelor of Science in Computer Science | Undergraduate degree in algorithms, data structures, programming languages, systems and theory, usually with more mathematics than an information technology or… |
| BSEE | Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering | Undergraduate electrical engineering degree covering circuits, signals, electromagnetics, power systems and electronics, accredited in the US by ABET. |
| BSME | Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering | ABET-accredited undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering covering thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, dynamics, materials and machine design. |
| BSN | Bachelor of Science in Nursing | Four-year nursing degree that combines science prerequisites with clinical rotations and courses in leadership, research and community health; graduates take the… |
| BSW | Bachelor of Social Work | Undergraduate social work degree accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) that prepares graduates for generalist practice and includes at least 400… |
| BTech | Bachelor of Technology | Four-year undergraduate engineering degree awarded by the Indian Institutes of Technology, National Institutes of Technology and most Indian engineering colleges. |
| BTh | Bachelor of Theology | Undergraduate theology degree offered by Bible colleges, seminaries and some universities, focused on biblical studies, doctrine, church history and ministry. |
| BVSc | Bachelor of Veterinary Science | Five-year veterinary degree awarded in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, India and South Africa that qualifies graduates to register as veterinary surgeons. |
| CAGS | Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study | Post-master's credential of about 30 credits, offered mainly by universities in New England and the Northeast, in counseling, education, educational leadership and… |
| DBA | Doctor of Business Administration | Professional doctorate in business for experienced managers and consultants, built around applied research into real organizational problems. |
| DC | Doctor of Chiropractic | Professional degree for chiropractors, who focus on musculoskeletal problems, especially of the spine, using manual adjustment and other conservative treatments. |
| DClinPsy | Doctorate in Clinical Psychology | Three-year professional doctorate that is the standard route to qualifying as a clinical psychologist in the UK. |
| DD | Doctor of Divinity | Divinity degree that in the US is almost always honorary, conferred by colleges and seminaries on distinguished clergy, while at Oxford, Cambridge and some Commonwealth… |
| DDS | Doctor of Dental Surgery | First professional degree for dentists in the US and Canada, earned after four years at a dental school accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA). |
| DLitt | Doctor of Letters | Higher doctorate in the humanities awarded by British, Irish and Commonwealth universities for a distinguished body of published scholarship, and often granted… |
| DM | Doctorate of Medicine | Super-specialty medical degree in India, taken after an MD, in fields such as cardiology, neurology, gastroenterology, nephrology and medical oncology. |
| DMA | Doctor of Musical Arts | Doctoral degree in music performance, composition or conducting that combines advanced artistic work with scholarly study, typically including a series of recitals and… |
| DMD | Doctor of Dental Medicine | Dental degree equivalent to the DDS, awarded by Harvard, Penn, Tufts, Boston University and dozens of other schools after four years of CODA-accredited dental education. |
| DMin | Doctor of Ministry | Professional doctorate for clergy and ministry leaders who already hold an MDiv and several years of ministry experience. |
| DNP | Doctor of Nursing Practice | Clinical doctorate for nurses that focuses on translating evidence into practice, quality improvement and leadership rather than original research. |
| DO | Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine | Degree held by osteopathic physicians, who are fully licensed to practice medicine and surgery in all 50 states. |
| DPhil | Doctor of Philosophy | Name for the research doctorate at the University of Oxford and the University of Sussex, equivalent in every respect to a PhD elsewhere. |
| DPM | Doctor of Podiatric Medicine | Four-year degree for podiatrists, physicians and surgeons who specialize in the foot, ankle and lower leg. |
| DPT | Doctor of Physical Therapy | Entry-level professional degree for physical therapists in the US, usually three years after a bachelor's degree, combining coursework in anatomy, kinesiology and… |
| DrPH | Doctor of Public Health | Professional doctorate preparing leaders for senior roles in health departments, global health organizations and health policy, with a focus on applied research and… |
| DSc | Doctor of Science | Higher doctorate awarded by British, Irish and Commonwealth universities to established scientists for a substantial body of published work, usually many years after a… |
| DSW | Doctor of Social Work | Practice doctorate in social work focused on advanced clinical practice, leadership and teaching, usually completed part time or online in about three years. |
| DVM | Doctor of Veterinary Medicine | Four-year professional degree for veterinarians in the US and Canada, earned at schools accredited by the AVMA Council on Education after undergraduate prerequisites. |
| EdD | Doctor of Education | Professional doctorate for educational leaders such as superintendents, principals, college administrators and policy specialists, usually three to four years and often… |
| EdM | Master of Education | Form of the Master of Education used by Harvard Graduate School of Education, Teachers College at Columbia, Boston University and a few other schools, mostly for… |
| EdS | Education Specialist | Post-master's degree of about 30 credits that sits between a master's and a doctorate, commonly required for school psychologists and often earned by principals and… |
| EMBA | Executive Master of Business Administration | MBA designed for experienced managers who continue working full time, with classes on weekends or in intensive residential modules over about two years. |
| EngD | Doctor of Engineering | Doctoral degree combining PhD-level research with work in industry, best known in the UK, where research engineers spend most of a four-year program solving a problem… |
| HNC | Higher National Certificate | British vocational qualification at level 4, typically one year full time or two years part time, often taken by apprentices and working technicians. |
| HND | Higher National Diploma | British vocational qualification at level 5 that usually takes two years of full-time study in subjects such as engineering, business, computing or hospitality. |
| Hons | Honours (honors degree) | Label added to a British or Commonwealth bachelor's degree, as in "BA (Hons)", showing that the student completed the full honours course, usually including a… |
| JCD | Juris Canonici Doctor (Doctor of Canon Law) | Doctorate in Catholic canon law earned after the JCL with a dissertation, qualifying holders to teach canon law at pontifical faculties and to serve in senior roles at… |
| JCL | Juris Canonici Licentiatus (Licentiate in Canon Law) | Pontifical degree in Catholic canon law, usually a three-year program, that qualifies holders to serve as judges, defenders of the bond and advocates in diocesan… |
| JD | Juris Doctor | Three-year professional law degree that is the standard qualification for practicing law in the United States, earned after a bachelor's degree at a law school… |
| LHD | Litterarum Humanarum Doctor (Doctor of Humane Letters) | Honorary doctorate that American colleges award to philanthropists, artists, activists and public figures for contributions to society rather than for scholarship. |
| LLB | Legum Baccalaureus (Bachelor of Laws) | First law degree in the UK, Ireland, India, Australia, Singapore and most Commonwealth countries, usually three or four years of undergraduate study. |
| LLD | Legum Doctor (Doctor of Laws) | Doctorate that American universities award almost exclusively as an honorary degree, often to commencement speakers, judges and public figures. |
| LLM | Legum Magister (Master of Laws) | One-year graduate law degree taken after a first law degree, either to specialize in areas such as tax, international or intellectual property law or, for… |
| MA | Master of Arts | Graduate degree, typically one to two years, in the humanities, social sciences, education or the arts, earned through coursework and often a thesis, capstone or… |
| MAcc | Master of Accountancy | Graduate accounting degree, typically one year, that many students take to reach the 150 credit hours historically required for CPA licensure in most states. |
| MALS | Master of Arts in Liberal Studies | Interdisciplinary graduate degree for adults who want advanced study across the humanities and social sciences rather than a single discipline. |
| MAR | Master of Arts in Religion | Two-year academic degree at Yale Divinity School and some other seminaries for students studying religion without seeking ordination. |
| MArch | Master of Architecture | Professional architecture degree accredited by the NAAB that qualifies holders to pursue licensure in the US. |
| MAT | Master of Arts in Teaching | Graduate degree that prepares people who already hold a bachelor's degree in a subject to become licensed teachers, combining pedagogy coursework with a semester or… |
| MBA | Master of Business Administration | Graduate business degree covering finance, accounting, strategy, marketing, operations and leadership, typically two years full time in the US and 10 to 12 months at… |
| MBBS | Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery | Primary medical degree in the UK, India, Pakistan, Australia, Nigeria and many Commonwealth countries, typically a five- or six-year undergraduate program followed by… |
| MCh | Magister Chirurgiae (Master of Surgery) | Super-specialty surgical degree in India, taken after an MS in general surgery, in fields such as neurosurgery, cardiothoracic surgery, urology and pediatric surgery. |
| MCP | Master of City Planning | Planning degree title used by MIT, the University of Pennsylvania and UC Berkeley for their accredited urban planning programs. |
| MD | Doctor of Medicine | Medical degree earned in the United States and Canada after four years at a school accredited by the LCME, following a bachelor's degree and the MCAT. |
| MD-PhD | Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Philosophy | Dual-degree program for physician-scientists that combines medical school with full PhD research training, typically taking seven to eight years. |
| MDiv | Master of Divinity | Three-year graduate degree of roughly 72 to 90 credits that is the standard preparation for ordained ministry in many Protestant denominations and is also earned by… |
| MEd | Master of Education | Graduate degree for teachers, school leaders, counselors and instructional designers, usually 30 to 36 credits, in areas such as curriculum and instruction, educational… |
| MEM | Master of Engineering Management | Graduate degree for engineers moving into management, combining technical coursework with finance, operations, product management and leadership. |
| MEng | Master of Engineering | Professional engineering master's that in the US is usually a one-year, coursework-based degree without a research thesis, offered by schools such as Cornell, Berkeley… |
| MFA | Master of Fine Arts | Studio-based graduate degree in visual art, creative writing, film, theater, dance or design, usually two to three years, culminating in a thesis exhibition… |
| MHA | Master of Health Administration | Graduate degree that prepares students to manage hospitals, health systems, clinics and insurers, covering health economics, finance, operations and policy. |
| MHS | Master of Health Science | Health-related master's degree whose content varies widely by school: at Johns Hopkins it is a research and public health degree, at Duke it is the physician assistant… |
| MIA | Master of International Affairs | Two-year graduate degree preparing students for diplomacy, international development, security, human rights and global business. |
| MiM | Master in Management | Pre-experience business master's, usually one to two years, for recent graduates with little or no work experience. |
| MJ | Master of Jurisprudence | Law-school degree for non-lawyers that teaches legal reasoning, regulation and compliance in about one year, often online. |
| MLA | Master of Landscape Architecture | Professional graduate degree accredited by the Landscape Architectural Accreditation Board that leads toward licensure as a landscape architect. |
| MLIS | Master of Library and Information Science | Graduate degree, about 36 credits, that is the standard qualification for professional librarians in the US and Canada when accredited by the American Library… |
| MLitt | Master of Letters | Postgraduate degree in the humanities awarded mainly by Scottish and some Irish and English universities, such as St Andrews, Glasgow and Aberdeen. |
| MLS | Master of Legal Studies | Graduate degree for professionals who are not lawyers, such as compliance officers, human resources managers and health administrators, who need a working knowledge of… |
| MM | Master of Music | Graduate music degree in performance, composition, conducting, music education or theory, typically two years with recitals and juries. |
| MOT | Master of Occupational Therapy | Entry-level graduate degree that qualifies students to sit for the NBCOT certification exam and become licensed occupational therapists. |
| MPA | Master of Public Administration | Professional graduate degree for careers managing government agencies and nonprofits, covering public finance, budgeting, policy analysis, ethics and management. |
| MPAS | Master of Physician Assistant Studies | Graduate degree, typically 24 to 36 months, that prepares physician assistants (also called physician associates) through didactic coursework followed by about a year… |
| MPH | Master of Public Health | Graduate degree, typically 42 or more credits over one to two years, in epidemiology, biostatistics, environmental health, health policy and social and behavioral… |
| MPharm | Master of Pharmacy | Four-year integrated master's degree that is the standard qualification for pharmacists in Great Britain, accredited by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC). |
| MPhil | Master of Philosophy | Research-oriented master's degree. |
| MPP | Master of Public Policy | Two-year graduate degree centered on policy analysis, economics, statistics and program evaluation, preparing graduates to design and assess government policies. |
| MPS | Master of Professional Studies | Applied graduate degree for working professionals, offered in fields such as project management, applied statistics, urban design and supply chain. |
| MRes | Master of Research | One-year British postgraduate degree in which a large research project, rather than taught modules, makes up most of the credit. |
| MS | Master of Science | Graduate degree in science, engineering, mathematics, health or business analytics, usually one to two years of coursework with either a research thesis or a non-thesis… |
| MSBA | Master of Science in Business Analytics | One-year quantitative master's covering statistics, machine learning, optimization, SQL and data visualization applied to business problems. |
| MSc | Master of Science | Postgraduate science degree in the UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, India and Europe, usually a one-year taught program in the UK or a two-year research program in Canada. |
| MSCS | Master of Science in Computer Science | Graduate computer science degree covering algorithms, systems, machine learning and software engineering, often with thesis and non-thesis options. |
| MSEd | Master of Science in Education | Education master's degree title used by Johns Hopkins, Fordham, Northwestern, the University of Pennsylvania and many other schools for programs in teaching… |
| MSF | Master of Science in Finance | One-year or eighteen-month specialized master's in corporate finance, investments, financial modeling and econometrics. |
| MSN | Master of Science in Nursing | Graduate nursing degree for registered nurses that prepares them for advanced practice as nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists or nurse-midwives, or for… |
| MSt | Master of Studies | Postgraduate degree used by Oxford, where it is usually a nine-month taught course in the humanities, and by Cambridge, where it is a part-time program for working… |
| MSW | Master of Social Work | Graduate social work degree accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), usually 60 credits over two years with at least 900 hours of supervised field… |
| MTS | Master of Theological Studies | Two-year academic master's in theology or religion offered by divinity schools such as Harvard, Duke, Emory and Vanderbilt. |
| MUP | Master of Urban Planning | Professional planning degree covering land use, transportation, housing, environmental planning and community development, usually two years. |
| ND | Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine | Degree awarded by four-year naturopathic medical schools accredited by the Council on Naturopathic Medical Education (CNME), emphasizing nutrition, botanical remedies… |
| OD | Doctor of Optometry | Four-year professional degree for optometrists, who perform eye exams, prescribe glasses and contact lenses and, depending on state law, diagnose and treat many eye… |
| OTD | Doctor of Occupational Therapy | Doctoral degree in occupational therapy, offered either as an entry-level program of about three years leading to NBCOT certification or as a post-professional degree… |
| PGCE | Postgraduate Certificate in Education | One-year teacher training course in England, Wales and Northern Ireland for university graduates, combining academic study with at least 120 days of school placements. |
| PGCert | Postgraduate Certificate | Short UK postgraduate qualification worth 60 credits, one third of a taught master's degree, often taken part time by working professionals. |
| PGDip | Postgraduate Diploma | British and Commonwealth postgraduate qualification worth 120 credits, equivalent to a taught master's degree without the dissertation. |
| PharmD | Doctor of Pharmacy | Professional doctorate that has been the only entry-level degree for pharmacists in the United States since the early 2000s, typically four years after two or more… |
| PhD | Doctor of Philosophy | Highest earned research degree in most academic fields, awarded for an original dissertation that makes a significant contribution to knowledge. |
| PsyD | Doctor of Psychology | Clinical doctorate for psychologists that emphasizes assessment and therapy over research, following the practitioner-scholar model endorsed at the 1973 Vail Conference. |
| SB | Scientiae Baccalaureus (Bachelor of Science) | Latin-order Bachelor of Science used by MIT and by Harvard for its engineering and applied science concentrations. |
| ScD | Doctor of Science | Research doctorate offered by MIT and some other American universities as an alternative title for the PhD, with the same requirements. |
| SJD | Doctor of Juridical Science | Highest research degree in law, earned after a JD and an LLM with a book-length dissertation, mainly by future law professors, many of them from outside the US. |
| SM | Scientiae Magister (Master of Science) | Latin-order Master of Science awarded by MIT and by Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and School of Public Health. |
| STB | Sacrae Theologiae Baccalaureus (Bachelor of Sacred Theology) | First pontifical degree in Catholic theology, granted by ecclesiastical faculties approved by the Holy See after a philosophy foundation and a three-year theology cycle. |
| STD | Sacrae Theologiae Doctor (Doctor of Sacred Theology) | Highest pontifical degree in Catholic theology, earned after the STL with a dissertation at a faculty approved by the Holy See, such as the Gregorian University in Rome… |
| STL | Sacrae Theologiae Licentiatus (Licentiate in Sacred Theology) | Second-cycle pontifical degree in Catholic theology, usually two years after the STB, with specialization in an area such as moral, dogmatic or biblical theology and a… |
| ThD | Doctor of Theology | Research doctorate in theology, equivalent in rigor to a PhD, awarded by a small number of American divinity schools such as Duke and by many European and South African… |
| ThM | Master of Theology | Advanced theology degree that most American seminaries award as a one-year program after the MDiv, allowing deeper study in a single area. |
| VMD | Veterinariae Medicinae Doctor (Doctor of Veterinary Medicine) | Veterinary degree awarded only by the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, equivalent to the DVM conferred by every other US veterinary school. |