Introduction

Adapted from the DARMAX Editorial Style Guide, March 2010, this guide is a quick reference tool to help PMDAR staff follow an editorial style that is consistent and appropriate for various audiences, both internal and external. The guide follows the style preferences outlined in:

• The Associated Press Stylebook 2013 (Associated Press), on certain variations
• Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary 11th Edition (G. & C. Merriam Company)
• Web Style Guide (Lynch & Horton, 2nd Edition, Yale University Press)

Penn’s familiar and common style takes precedence in this guide. If you do not find what you are looking for by category, use the search tool in the left sidebar. If it is not in the guide, please contact Jessica Leon, Senior Writer.

Please note that publications at other offices follow their own style guidelines, and vary from this guide.

Recommended Reading

You may find these entries useful:

Academic Degrees

Alumni (Proper Usage)

Class Affiliations + Years

Departments, Offices, and Programs

Hyphens and Dashes

The

Titles

General Style Guide

A/An

Choice of “a” or “an” is determined by the pronunciation of the word that follows:

• URL; an hour; a hotel; an honor; a history of

Academic Degrees

When referring to academic or professional degrees generically, use lower case:

• baccalaureate
• bachelor’s
• master’s
• doctorate

When abbreviating degrees, do not use periods:

• BA
• BS
• MA
• MBA
• MS
• PhD
• MD
• LLD

Names of degrees are set lowercase:

• Smith earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Oxford University.
• Jones has a BS in physics from the University of Chicago. Her medical doctorate is from Northwestern University.

Set off schools/degrees and post-nominal titling with commas when used with names:

• Conference presenters included John Doe, M’76, and Mary Smith, L’82.
• John Trojanowski, MD, PhD, heads the CNDR.

At PMDAR, our policy is to use post-nominal titling, rather than prefixing the name with a courtesy or professional title:

• Bob Smith, MD
• Bob Smith, MD, PhD

And we use school affiliation(s) for alumni, instead of generics:

• Bob Smith, M’67

Academic Disciplines

Capitalize a discipline only when it is a proper noun. As a general rule, if the word is regularly capitalized in general, it should remain capitalized when used in this context. See also Departments, Offices, and Programs:

• She is a scholar of English literature.
• He is a professor of physics and astronomy.

Academic Term/Year

Uppercase season and use full year in formal contexts:

• Summer Session 2010
• Spring Break 2010
• Fall Term 2010 

Page 2

Acronyms

On first use, spell out the full name of an organization or entity unless it is most widely known by its abbreviated name: e.g., IBM, SAT, NASA. If you refer to the organization or entity more than once, follow the initial spelled-out form with the acronym in parentheses and use the acronym for subsequent references. Do not use periods between letters. Do not use “the” before acronyms:

• She is a member of the Penn Chess Club (PCC) and the Society of Women Engineers. PCC is famous for ...

Admission

Not admittance

Advisor

Not adviser

Alumni (Proper Usage)

Everyone who matriculates at Penn, whether a graduate or not, becomes an alumna or alumnus of the University. Correct usage is as follows:

• alumna (feminine, singular)
• alumnus (masculine, singular)
• alumnae (feminine, plural)
• alumni (masculine, plural, or mixed group)

Do not use the informal “alum”—just as you shouldn't use “prof” or “doc” or “veep”—in print or on the Web. Feel free to take a familiar, personal tone in writing, but keep in mind Penn’s stature in your communication.

Class of …

“Class” is capitalized as part of the proper name of a class:

• Jane is a member of the Class of 2005.
• A plaque commemorates the contributions of John Doe, Class of 1905.

Class Affiliations + Years

When abbreviating class years to two digits, an apostrophe (’)—not an opening quotation mark (‘)—replaces the omitted digits. (Shortcut on a PC is ctrl + quote, quote; on a Mac it is shift + option + right bracket). Undergraduate and graduate class affiliations and years, whether singles or multiples, should be set off from a personal name with commas, front and back:

• John Smith, W’05, was featured in an October New York Times article.
• John Smith, W’05, WG’09, is a director at Ernst & Young, PLC.

• If confusion could result from abbreviation of class year, spell out the year and do not use an apostrophe:

• John Smith, W1905, was memorialized in an October New York Times obituary.

When referring to a sequence of alumni, follow the style above for the primary person and use parentheses for secondary persons:

• John Smith, W’85, WG’89, director at Ernst & Young, PLC, was recognized with his wife Mary (C’55) and son Michael (V’11) for their contribution to the Mary and John Smith Endowed Professorship.

See also Penn Academic Degree Abbreviations/Affiliation.

Page 3

Composition Titles/Works

Names/titles that are capitalized and set in italics:

• Album names
• Books
• Cartoons or comic strips
• Drawings
• Epic poems
• Exhibition catalogs
• Journals
• Long musical compositions
• Movies
• Newspaper sections
• Newspapers
• Operas
• Oratorios
• Paintings
• Pamphlets
• Performances
• Periodicals
• Plays
• Soon-to-be-published books (forthcoming should be set in parentheses following the title)
• Statues
• Television and radio programs

Capitalize an initial “the” only when it is part of formal title of a publication and when syntax permits its use:

• A recent article in The New York Times …
• In a recent New York Times editorial …

Subsequent shortened references to titles are fine as long as reference is clear:

• The New York Times last week reported on the endowments of Ivy League colleges and universities. The same Times article notes Penn’s 10 percent rise in its endowment.

Names/titles that are capitalized and set within quotation marks:

• Book chapters
• Book manuscripts
• Conferences
• Courses
• Essays
• Exhibitions
• Journal articles
• Lectures and seminars
• Magazine articles
• Newspaper articles
• PhD dissertations
• Photographs
• Poems
• Songs
• Symposia
• Television series episodes
• Theses

Names/titles that are capitalized and set Roman (plain text):

• Broadcast networks
• Major speeches
• Channels

Page 4

Days and Dates

Capitalize and spell out days of the week. Spell out the names of months. Use cardinal (not ordinal) numbers to indicate date. Enclose year in commas when used with month and day (also day and date as noted in example below):

• March 2015
• March 15, 2010, is when students return from Spring Break.
• Monday, March 15, will mark the end of Spring Break.

Decision Making

No hyphen, unless it modifies a noun directly following:

• The advisory group will not have decision-making authority.
• The professor focused on important executive powers, such as decision making.

Departments, Offices, and Programs

Capitalize only the full, proper names of departments, offices, programs, and centers:

• The Abramson Cancer Center supports eleven research programs.

Do not capitalize shortened names, with the exception of administrative offices that are most commonly referred to by their shortened names (Admissions Office, Dean’s Office, Provost’s Office, and the like):

• Prospective students should contact finance about Penn’s All-Grant policy.

Generic terms referring back to a properly named entity are lowercased with the exception of the University of Pennsylvania—the University—and its schools and centers:

• “The Split Button” marks the main entrance to the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center. The library closes at midnight.

Directions and Regions

Lowercase north, east, south, and west when they refer to direction or location. Capitalize when used as part of a proper noun:

• Center City is situated to the east of Penn’s campus.
• Only a small percentage of Penn’s student body hails from the South.
• Members of the outing club spend time traveling out West every year.

Dr.

Use “Dr.” in reference to any individual—donor, faculty, staff, or guest speaker—who holds a PhD or a medical degree.

Endowed Professorships

Endowed professorships are capitalized and preceded by “the”:

• John Biddle made a generous gift to establish the Algernon Biddle Professorship of Law and Public Policy.
• Claire Oakes Finkelstein, the Algernon Biddle Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy (Note replacement of “professorship” with “professor” in this usage, for readability.)

Page 5

Ethnicity, Nationality, and Race

The terms “black” and “white” should only be used when racial identification is pertinent:

• Barack Obama is the first black U.S. president.

Do not hyphenate any terms that designate ethnicity. Do capitalize their proper names:

• African American, Asian American, German American, Native American

NOTE: Whenever possible, use a specific designation, such as “Puerto Rican” or “Cuban” rather than the more generic “Latino/a.” Some Native American groups prefer to be called Indian Americans. Where possible, use a specific tribal designation, such as “Cherokee” or “Lenni Lenape.”

Events at Penn

Capitalize the names of the following campus events. Lowercase references to such events at other institutions:

• Alumni Weekend, Commencement, Convocation, Homecoming, Spring Fling, Reunion
• Mary Smith, C’08, spoke at her high-school commencement.

Faculty

The word faculty is a plural noun and takes a plural verb. To avoid possible confusion, use “faculty members”:

• The faculty are all in agreement.
• Faculty members from two departments are co-chairing the event.

Fundraising/Fundraiser

Do not hyphenate.

Gender-Neutral Language

As a rule, use nonsexist language. Avoid saying “he” when referring to an unspecified person. Recast the sentence in the plural or avoid the use of pronouns altogether. If you must use a singular pronoun, use “he or she” not “he/she”:

• chair (not chairman, chairperson)
• business executive (not businessman)
• female student (not coed student)
• humankind (not mankind)

Do not use “first-year student” instead of “freshman” to refer to members of the first-year undergraduate class. At Penn, female and male first-year students are referred to as “freshmen.”

Headlines

Capitalize all words (including verbs) in headlines, except articles (a, and, the) and prepositions of fewer than five letters. Do not break headline after preposition.

Quotations as part of a headline are set in single quotation marks:

• Stock Market Is in an ‘Up’ Cycle, Which Is Good for Everyone

Use sentence-style capitalization for subheads (first word and proper nouns only):

• Going for broke: Falling up and down the mountain of debt

Page 6

Health Care

Health care is always two words (never “healthcare”), but do hyphenate when modifying the noun directly following:

• Health care in the United States is costly.
• Health-care policy is a key issue for the Obama administration.

Honorable/Reverend

Use “the” with a descriptive title, and abbreviate this title:

• The Hon. John Doe, a prominent federal judge in Philadelphia, will speak at Penn tonight.
• Tonight’s speaker, the Hon. John Doe, is a prominent federal judge and expert in patent law.
• A collection of letters of the Rev. John Doe is housed at Van Pelt Library.
• The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King was a towering figure in the civil-rights movement.

Lists

Use a numbered list only when the number or ranking of list items is significant.

The oldest Western universities in continuous operation are:

1. University of Bologna (1088)
2. University of Paris (1090)
3. University of Oxford (1096)
4. University of Cambridge (1209)
5. University of Salamanca (1218)

If there is no rationale for numbering the list items, use a bulleted list.

Philadelphia’s Big Five universities are:

• La Salle University
• St. Joseph’s University
• Temple University
• University of Pennsylvania
• Villanova

Long-term/Longtime

Do hyphenate long-term. Do not hyphenate longtime.

Making History Campaign (Fundraising)

Penn is always in fundraising mode. When one campaign is closing, the University is in the quiet phase of its next campaign:

• The formal title of the current campaign is Making History: The Campaign for Penn.

When referring in shorthand to the campaign, “Campaign” is capitalized:

• The core priorities of the Making History Campaign are X, Y, and Z.
• One of the top Campaign priorities is X.
• Making History has exceeded its goal of $3.5 billion.

Multicultural/Multidisciplinary

Do not hyphenate.

None is/None are

When “none” is followed by a singular subject, use a singular verb; when followed by a plural subject, use a plural verb.

• None of the work is completed.
• None of the team members were present.

Nonprofit

Do not hyphenate.

Page 7

Penn

Use full name (University of Pennsylvania) on first reference when writing for an external audience. Capitalize “University” when it stands for Penn.

Penn Parent Designation + Year

Use the “PAR” designation for parents of currently enrolled students only. Single or multiple designations should be set off from a personal name with commas, front and back:

• John Smith, PAR’11, PAR’14, is co-chair of the Parents Leadership Committee.

Percentages

Spell out “percent” rather than using the symbol (%), except when used in tables:

• 3 percent
• 100 percent

President’s House

Pronouns

Use who rather than that when referring to people or groups of people.

• Conference participants who elected to take a campus tour were able to visit the newly renovated building.

Scholarships/Student Aid

“Scholarship” communicates merit. “Aid” generally refers to need. Do not use “financial aid” in any circumstance. Use only “student aid” when referring to undergraduate, graduate, and/or professional student aid.

Seasons

Lowercase, except when referring to formal Penn occasions or events:

• Last fall, students returned to campus like locusts to a favorite feeding site.
• In just a few weeks, Penn’s Summer Session 1 interns transformed an abandoned theater to a thriving site for community meetings.
• Penn students celebrated Spring Break by volunteering at local public-service agencies.
• On September 15, Penn opened its Fall Semester with Convocation at Houston Hall.

Page 8

State Names

Spell out state names when they stand alone in running text:

• One of the most beautiful states in the country is Pennsylvania.

Use abbreviated forms—not postal codes—for state names with a city in running text, with a comma before and after the state abbreviation. Certain states have no abbreviation, such as Alaska and Hawaii. In these cases, spell out the state name when used with a city.

• The University of Pennsylvania is located in Philadelphia, Pa., just 125 miles north of Baltimore, Md.
• The Old Geezer’s Bar in Nome, Alaska, is where the young crowd meets

State abbreviations:

• Alabama – Ala.
• Alaska
• Arizona – Ariz.
• Arkansas – Ark.
• California – Calif.
• Colorado – Colo.
• Connecticut – Conn.
• Delaware – Del.
• District of Columbia – D.C.
• Florida – Fla.
• Georgia – Ga.
• Hawaii
• Idaho
• Illinois – Ill.
• Indiana – Ind.
• Iowa
• Kansas – Kan.
• Kentucky – Ky.
• Louisiana – La.
• Maine
• Maryland – Md.
• Massachusetts – Mass.
• Michigan – Mich.
• Minnesota – Minn.
• Mississippi – Miss.
• Missouri – Mo.
• Montana – Mont.
• Nebraska – Neb.
• Nevada – Nev.
• New Hampshire – N.H.
• New Jersey – N.J.
• New Mexico – N.M.
• New York – N.Y.
• North Carolina – N.C.
• North Dakota – N.D.
• Ohio
• Oklahoma – Okla.
• Oregon – Ore.
• Pennsylvania – Pa.
• Rhode Island – R.I.
• South Carolina – S.C.
• South Dakota – S. Dak.
• Tennessee – Tenn.
• Texas
• Utah
• Vermont – Vt.
• Virginia – Va.
• Washington – Wash.
• West Virginia – W. Va.
• Wisconsin – Wis.
• Wyoming – Wyo

Use two-letter postal code state abbreviations only in a context where a zip code follows state name:

• Orders should be mailed to the Penn Bookstore, 3601 Walnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19104.

Page 9

That/Which

Use “that” for restrictive (essential) clauses; “which” for nonrestrictive.

• First-year students may select only from courses that are listed in their bulletins.
• Next year, which will be her sophomore year at Penn, she will major in French.

The

Do not capitalize “the” as part of program, office, or organization name unless it is part of the formal title:

• The Annenberg Center
• The Benjamin Franklin Society
• The Penn Fund

Titles

Always capitalize a person’s title.

• Professor of Chemistry Donald Berry; Professor Berry; renowned chemist Donald Berry

A title is capitalized also when it is used in place of a name.

• Amy Gutmann, President of the University of Pennsylvania; President Amy Gutmann; the President

Except in letter salutations, do not use courtesy titles such as “Mr.” or “Ms.” when referring to people in print or Web articles. Use an individual’s full name on first reference and either their first or last name on subsequent references. If confusion could result, e.g., two people with the same surname, use full name on all references.

Punctuation

Colon

A colon may be used to introduce a formal question, quotation, amplification, example, or list. In essence, it replaces that is, for example, such as, namely, or for instance and therefore should not be used with any of these words:

• The study involved three metals: chromium, molybdenum, and titanium.

A colon should not be placed between a verb or preposition and its direct object:

• The three metals under study were chromium, molybdenum, and titanium.

Comma

The comma denotes a slight pause. Effective use involves good judgment. Ease of reading is the overall goal.

The rules below are well accepted, and you can safely use them as a guide:

Use the serial comma:

• Penn is a leader in developing efficient, green, and inexpensive modes of transportation.

Do not use commas before or after Inc., Ltd., Jr., Sr., and the like:

• “I didn’t know what that meant,” said John Doe Jr.
• John Doe Jr. decided to attend Penn.

Use commas before and after the word “too” in a sentence:

• “You, too, can be a style fanatic,” said John Doe Jr.

Use a comma when beginning a sentence with an adverb:

• Truly, we are making history together.
• Ideally, we should set aside funds against future income shortfalls.

Use a comma before a conjunction that joins two independent clauses:

• Thank you for your donation to the Penn Fund, and welcome to the Benjamin Franklin Society.

Use commas around nonrestrictive (nonessential) phrases or clauses. Do not use commas with a phrase or clause that is restrictive (essential to meaning of sentence):

• The student-led initiative, which began in January, is the first of its kind in the Northeast. (nonrestrictive)
• The professor who won the Nobel Prize is on the far right in the photograph. (restrictive)

Use a comma to introduce or set off a quotation unless the quoted word or phrase functions as the subject or object of the sentence. Do not use a comma when a quotation is immediately preceded by the conjunction “that.” Commas never should be used in combination with exclamation or question marks.

• President Gutmann says, “Our students are the smartest on the planet.”
• In her Commencement address, President Gutmann said that “our students are the smartest on the planet.”

Punctuation (continued)

Dashes

There are three types: hyphen (-), en-dash (–), and em-dash (—).

Most compounds formed with prefixes are unhyphenated:

• Predetermined
• Nonobjective

Except when used with numbers, proper nouns, open compounds (non-self-sustaining), or when misreading could occur (pro-life):

• Pre-1970
• Non-self-sustaining
• Sub-Saharan
• Pro-life

Except for “coordinate and “cooperate,” use a hyphen when the same vowel ends the prefix and begins the word that follows:

• Anti-intellectual
• Semi-independent

Hyphens

Many common questions concern hyphenation. Should compound terms such as “aftermath” and “countermeasure” be written as one word, two words, or hyphenated? Prefixes and suffixes can be troublesome also. 

The choice is based on usage, so the first place to look for answers is the dictionary. A guiding principle is clarity. If hyphenation makes the meaning of a word or phrase more clear, it may be best to use it.

The rules below are well accepted, and you can safely use them as a guide:

Use a hyphen with the prefix “co” when forming nouns, adjectives, and verbs that indicate occupation or status:

• co-author, co-sponsor, co-worker, etc.

When in doubt, check Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary.

Use hyphens for compound words. For example, a compound adjective that precedes the noun it modifies and word division. These should be closed up—no space before and after—to surrounding text:

• Snow will only be cleared from high-traffic areas.
• The study found that satisfying part-time work is hard to find.
• Starting in January, she will be in the position full time.

En-dashes are used with number ranges and to indicate “to” or “through.” They should be closed up—no space before and after—to surrounding text. (PC shortcut is ctrl + keypad hyphen; Mac is option + hyphen). En-dashes are reserved for calendar entries, sidebars, charts, and the like. An exception in running text is the expression of academic years (i.e., 2008–09):

• More students participated in Foreign Study Programs in 2008–09 than in previous years.
• The light display will run December 1–30.

Em-dashes are used to set off an explanatory element within a sentence. Commas and parentheses perform a similar function. They should be closed up—no space before and after—to surrounding text for print media. Spaces are inserted for web media. See The Internet section for additional details. (PC shortcut is alt + ctrl + keypad hyphen; Mac is shift + option + hyphen):

• Three important elements—cost, effectiveness, and availability—will be considered.

Semicolons

Use to separate items in a series when one or more of the items contain a comma;

• Important points to consider are privacy; social, cultural, and economic factors; and status.

Quotations/Quotation Marks/Speech Verbs

Set speech verbs in the past tense:

• “There is no doubt that energy, sustainability, and climate change will be the defining challenges of this century,” President Gutmann said.

When continuing paragraphs of a quote on multiple paragraph breaks, do not use ending quotes on intervening paragraphs.

• “There is no doubt that energy, sustainability, and climate change will be the defining challenges of this century,” President Gutmann said.

“We owe it to future generations to leave this world as we found it, at the least. At best, leave it better than it was during the time we spent time on it.

“There is no higher responsibility for anyone who shares our common space.”

Commas and periods are always set inside of quotation marks. Colons and semicolons are always set outside of quotation marks. Exclamation or question marks fall inside of quotation marks only when they are part of quoted material. Commas should never be used in combination with exclamation or question marks.

Remember to use quotation marks (‘ ’, “ ”), and not tick marks (', "). Tick marks denote feet and inches.

Numerals

Age

For ages, always use figures (cardinal numbers). If the age is used as an adjective or as a substitute for a noun, then it should be hyphenated. Don’t use apostrophes when describing an age range:

• A 21-year-old student.
• The student is 21 years old.
• The girl, 8, has a brother, 11.
• The contest is for 18-year-olds.
• He is in his 20s.

Centuries, Decades, and Eras

Use ordinal numbers to express all but the first through ninth centuries. Use a hyphen when the century is used as an adjective:

• 21st century
• fifth century
• 20th-century history
• 18th-century science

Formal style for decades is to use all four digits of the year, followed by an “s.” Informal use permits substitution of an apostrophe (not a single quotation mark or a tick mark) for the first two digits:

• the 1960s
• the ’60s

For eras, use the secular form—C.E. (Common Era) and B.C.E. (Before the Common Era) rather than A.D. and B.C. Set the letters in all caps, and use periods.

Numbers

Use words for Arabic and ordinal numbers one through nine, nonspecific (or casual) references to numbers, numbers in quoted speech, and numbers beginning a sentence. Use numerals (figures) for 10 and above:

• There are seven key points in the argument.
• There are a million reasons to disagree on the issue.
• Forty-five students have signed up for the class.
• The 45 students in the class are all traveling to Europe for spring term.
• “The Outing Club will offer three new events this spring,” says President Gutmann.
• Exception: when two or more numbers apply to the same category in a paragraph or series.
• There are 20 sections to Dante’s work: 15 are set in the first sequence and 5 in the latter.

Use a combination of numerals and words when expressing very large numbers.

• Penn received a $10 million gift.
• It is a country of 15 million people.

Use figures where ordinals indicate a sequence that has been assigned in forming names (usually with geographic, military, and political designations):

• 1st Ward
• 1st Sergeant or Sgt.
• 7th Fleet

Time of Day

Use numerals to express time of day. Use lowercase letters and periods for a.m. and p.m.

• 7 a.m.
• 6:30 p.m.
• Noon (12 p.m.)
• Midnight (12 a.m.)

In quoted text, use of “o’clock” is acceptable:

• “Students must be in their dorms by 11 o’clock every night this week,” says the director of student safety.

Telephone Numbers

Put the area code in parentheses, and use a hyphen between the three-digit and four-digit numbers that follow:

• (603) 646-1110

Temperature

For whole numbers, spell out “degrees” rather than use the degree symbol (°), except when used in tables or in reference to scientific measurements. Exception: Zero degrees. Use Fahrenheit or Celsius only when it would be confusing not to:

• It is 86 degrees outside today.
• Her fever is 101.5°F.
• The office temperature is generally maintained in the high 60s.

Units of Measure

Use a combination of numerals and words to express units of measure:

• A MacBook Air weighs 3 pounds.
• The new facility will include 10-by-12-foot storage closets.
• 5 feet 3 inches (note no intervening comma, no abbreviations)

The Internet

Dot-com

Use a hyphen.

Em-dashes

On Web pages, em-dashes should not be closed up to surrounding text. Put a space before and after the em-dash for better text flow.

Email

Do not hyphenate.

Home page

Not homepage.

Internet

Use this capitalization.

Login

Together, as one word, “login” is a noun:

• My login is my email address.

Log in

Space the words apart for verb use:

• I am already logged in.

Net, the (in reference to the Internet)

Online

Not on-line or on line.

Podcast

Do not hyphenate.

URLs and email addresses

Unless at the beginning of a sentence, an email address should be set in lowercase letters with no spaces between elements:

• jdoe@upenn.edu

When citing a URL or email address in running text, do not enclose in angle brackets. The use of “http://” at the beginning of a URL is not necessary if the address uses www:

• www.upenn.edu
• http://knowledgelink.upenn.edu

Never break a URL at the end of a line:

• For more information about a bunch of things, see the Penn Medicine giving blog,
  http://penn-medicine-giving.blogspot.com/

World Wide Web

Note capitalization.

Web, the (in reference to the World Wide Web)

Note capitalization. It is capitalized because it is a title that refers to a rule set. (“Internet” is capitalized because it is a location, a proper noun.

Web browser, Web feed, Web page

Note capitalization.

Webcast, Website, Webmaster

Note capitalization.

Penn Academic Degree Abbreviations/Affiliations

School + class year (C’85, CW’65, C’85W’85) indicates undergraduate bachelor’s degree 
School + G + class year indicates graduate master’s degree 
School + Gr + class year indicates graduate doctoral degree 
Fellow and Resident follow the same format (FEL’67 and RES’89)
When abbreviating schools/degrees, do not use periods.

Bachelor’s (B), Master’s (M), Doctorate (D)

Allied Medical Professions, School of (SAMP)
MT – Medical Technology (B)
OT – Occupational Therapy (B)
PT – Physical Therapy (B)
Annenberg School of Communications (ASC)
GrASC (D)
Arts & Sciences, School of (SAS)
B – Biology (B)
C – College (B)
CCC – College Collateral Courses (B)
CCT – College Courses for Teachers (B)
Ch – Chemistry (B)
Ed – Education (B)
G – Arts & Sciences (M)
GR – Arts & Sciences (D)
Mu – Music (B)
GPU/MGA – Governmental Administration (M)
Dental Medicine, School of (Penn Dental)
GD – Dental, post-degree (D)
D – Dental Medicine (D)
MCD – Medico-Chi Dental (D)
PD – Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery (D)
DH – Dental Hygiene (D)
Design, School of (PennDesign)
Ar – Architecture (B)
CP – City Planning (B)
FA – Fine Arts (B)
LAr – Landscape Architecture (B)
RP – Regional Planning (B)
GAr – Architecture (M)
GCP – City Planning (M)
GFA – Fine Arts (M)
GLA – Landscape Architecture (M)
GRP – Regional Planning (M)
Education, Graduate School of
GEd – Education (M)
GrEd – Education (D)
Engineering and Applied Science, School of (SEAS)
CE – Civil Engineering (B)
ChE – Chemical Engineering
EAS – Engineering and Applied Science 
GCE – Civil Engineering (M)
GrC – Civil Engineering (D)
GCh – Chemical Engineering (M)
GEng – Engineering and Applied Science (M)
EE – Electrical Engineering (B)
GEE – Electrical Engineering (M)
GrE – Electrical Engineering (D)
GEx – Engineering Executive (M)
FE – Fuel Engineering (B)
ME – Mechanical Engineering (B)
GME – Mechanical Engineering (M)
MnE – Mining Engineering 
MtE – Metallurgical Engineering
GMt – Metallurgical Engineering (M)
General Studies, College of (pre 2008)
CGS – College of General Studies (B)
GGS – College of General Studies (M)
Honorary
Hon (+ School) 
Law School
L – Law (M)
GrL – Law (D)
Liberal and Professional Studies, College for (LPS)
Medicine, School of
GM – Medicine, Post-degree (D)
GrM – Doctor of Science in Medicine (D)
M – Medicine (D)
MC – Medico-Chi Medical (D)
PH – Public Health (D)
Nursing, School of
NEd – Certificate (B)
NTS – Nurse Training (B)
Nu – Nursing (B)
GNu – Nursing (M)
GrN – Nursing (D)
Social Policy & Practice, School of (SP2)
SP2 – Social Policy & Practice (M)
Social Work, Pennsylvania School of
PSW (B)
SW – Social Work (M) ‘till 2005
Veterinary Medicine, School of
V – Veterinarian Medicine (D)
Wharton
W – Wharton (B)
WG – Wharton (M)
GrW – Wharton (D)
WAM – Wharton Advanced Management (B)
WEF – Wharton Extension Finance (B)
WEv – Wharton Evening (B)
WExt – Wharton Extension School (B)
Women, College for (pre 1975)
CW – College for Women (B)