How Do You Abbreviate Degree On A Resume?

Skip periods when abbreviating degrees on a resume. Just use the standard academic abbreviations and separate them from your name with a comma.

What’s going on with degree abbreviations?

Resumes demand clean formatting for degrees. Abbreviations should be consistent, properly punctuated (or not), and placed after your name only when it adds value. Listing a high school diploma after college degrees just clutters things up—career experts agree on that. Always prioritize readability and relevance.

Here’s exactly how to format your education section

Follow these steps to get your degree abbreviations right:

1. Start with your highest degree. List your most advanced degree first, then work backward. If you’ve got a college degree, drop the high school diploma entirely.
2. Use standard abbreviations without periods. Common examples:

   Degree	Abbreviation
   Associate in Arts	AA
   Bachelor of Arts	BA
   Bachelor of Science	BS
   Master of Business Administration	MBA
   Master of Arts	MA

   Source: AP Stylebook (AP Style uses no periods in degree abbreviations).

3. Add the degree after your name only when it matters. Use this format in professional contexts like business cards or email signatures, not for everyday use:

   John Doe, BA, MBA

   Separate multiple degrees with commas.

4. Put degrees in the Education section of your resume. Format:

     Bachelor of Science in Computer Science
     University of California, Berkeley | 2024
     

   Include the degree name, school, location, and year. Skip the word "degree" after the abbreviation.

Still not getting the response you expected?

Try these tweaks if your resume isn’t getting noticed:

• Cut outdated or irrelevant education. If you’ve got a bachelor’s degree, your high school diploma has no business being on the resume.
• Use full degree titles in applicant tracking systems. Some systems parse "Bachelor of Arts in English" better than "BA." Keep the full title in the Education section.
• Match your style. If you skip periods in one abbreviation, skip them in all. Don’t mix "B.A." with "BS" on the same resume.

How to keep your resume clean and future-proof

A few good habits prevent formatting headaches later:

• Update your resume every year. Add new certifications or degrees as soon as you earn them to avoid last-minute scrambling.
• Pick a modern resume template. Free templates from Canva or Overleaf already follow current academic formatting standards.
• Match industry norms. In academia or research, use "PhD" or "Doctorate." In business, "MBA" beats "Master of Business Administration."
• Double-check your abbreviations. A common mistake is adding periods (like "B.A.") when style guides recommend no periods ("BA"). Stay consistent.

For the final word, check the Modern Language Association (MLA) and Chicago Manual of Style, both updated as of 2024.