Three master's degrees or three master degrees or three masters' degrees?

Actually, I think it is Three Masters degrees with no apostrophe... Personally I would avoid this altogether by saying 'He has degrees in..., all Masters level' It is a tough one because you have to ask yourself 'is he the Master that owns the degrees?' if that makes sense...

Master's has an apostrophe. I would opt for "master's degrees" because there are three degrees but only one master.

Three master's degrees.

Master's is a possessive, but it's not the plural subject, degrees is.

Went to ask our ninja copyeditor. Well done for stumping her with this one, by the way: I don't think I have ever managed that at any time in the last two years. She leans towards 'three master's degrees', though.

This came up a little while ago. One of them can be written either as 'a master's degree' or 'a masters degree'. That is according to the educational establishments/ departments responsible for them. So either would be correct with an 's' on the end.

That's what I thought (and the way I have seen it written is a Masters degree) but I accept that the original (and therefore potentially more accurate) version probably assumes that it is a degree which belongs to a 'master' of the subject and therefore Master's degree. A PhD is easier to do grammatically in this context - three doctorates.

veinglory said:

Master's has an apostrophe. I would opt for "master's degrees" because there are three degrees but only one master.

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Yep.

Medievalist said:

Yep.

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Nope
Master's can have an apostrophe.

Kenn said:

Nope
Master's can have an apostrophe.

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I can't think of a good reason, other than laziness, for omitting it. Or a style guide that recommends omitting it?

veinglory said:

I can't think of a good reason, other than laziness, for omitting it. Or a style guide that recommends omitting it?

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I can't either, but I remember checking the Department of Education website (in the UK) and it was written as masters there. Since they are ultimately the controlling body then who am I to contradict them (or call them lazy - not that I would of course ).

Kenn said:

Nope
Master's can have an apostrophe.

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Yes, it can. Reread the quoted text and my laconic response. I'm agreeing with Veinglory.

Note the sections on plural degrees in the MLA Style Guide.

They point out that you can also use

"I have two M.A.s," if both are Master's of Arts, but if one is a science degree and one is an M.A., you would write "I have two Master's degrees."

They also note that unless all the Master's degrees are terminal, or in different fields or from different institutions they should not all be listed.

Medievalist said:

Yes, it can. Reread the quoted text and my laconic response. I'm agreeing with Veinglory.

Note the sections on plural degrees in the MLA Style Guide.

They point out that you can also use

"I have two M.A.s," if both are Master's of Arts, but if one is a science degree and one is an M.A., you would write "I have two Master's degrees."

They also note that unless all the Master's degrees are terminal, or in different fields or from different institutions they should not all be listed.

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That is what I said - it can. That does not mean it must have one, which is what you appeared to be saying. As for style guides, they cannot take precedence over the institutes or organisations that award the things.

I don't think anyone is suggesting the plural doesn't mean sticking an 's' on the end of degree, regardless of whether it is a master's or a masters.

Of course, if you choose to call it a 'master of arts' then the plural gets a little trickier

Kenn said:

I can't either, but I remember checking the Department of Education website (in the UK) and it was written as masters there. Since they are ultimately the controlling body then who am I to contradict them (or call them lazy - not that I would of course ).

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Being a good academic I use a primary reference (policy or style guide) rather than assuming that whoever wrote the webpage has it right.

Kenn said:

That is what I said - it can. That does not mean it must have one, which is what you appeared to be saying. As for style guides, they cannot take precedence over the institutes or organisations that award the things.

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Style guides do take precedence. The exception being if you work for or under an agency that has an explicit policy to the contrary.

After all, assuming you are speaking of the US to be of relevance to an American OP, I see them using the apostrophe whenever they are referencing the degree (not some other use of the word in a non-possessive sense).

veinglory said:

Being a good academic...

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And modest to boot

veinglory said:

Style guides do take precedence. The exception being if you work for or under an agency that has an explicit policy to the contrary.

After all, assuming you are speaking of the US to be of relevance to an American OP, I see them using the apostrophe whenever they are referencing the degree (not some other use of the word in a non-possessive sense).

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No they don't. Style guides are just that - guides. The don't dictate how universities or anyone else should refer to the qualifications on offer. I have seen masters and master's written on both sides of the Atlantic. And yes, I have visited the US on a number of occasions (including your neck of the woods), on an academic basis. You can have masters championships, tournaments, certificates and degrees. Used in that sense, masters forms part of a compound noun.

Kenn said:

That is what I said - it can. That does not mean it must have one, which is what you appeared to be saying.

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That's rather a lot to read into "Yep," don't you think?

Particularly when that isn't what the quotation from Veinglory said?

Quote]As for style guides, they cannot take precedence over the institutes or organisations that award the things.[/quote]

They sure as hell can, unless you're writing for the friggin' institution that decides to be non-standard.

If I'm writing a bibliography for the University of Chicago, I don't give a rat's ass what Oxford University uses when it discusses the degrees it awards, other than the name of the degree.

If I'm going to use a plural form for multiple Master's degrees (and generally, I wouldn't because it's non-standard on most c.v.s for a non-terminal degree) I'm going to follow the style guide of the publisher in question, not the degree-granting institution.

Medievalist, that is the problem with one word posts.

For the record, I would usually write master's degree (or degrees). My point is that someone who writes masters is not making a mistake, although some people might regard it as erroneous. You can write whatever you want and it would not bother me since, with or without the apostrophe, it would be correct in my book.

The MLA style guide is one of many. It is predominantly humanities based, which is fine - but don't assume it is better (or worse) than any others. I would point out two things, however. Firstly, I have never come across qualifications being listed in a bibliography (despite the multitude of formats adopted by the various journals). I think the MLA style guide will specifically recommend against those. Secondly, the punctuation is usually omitted after the qualifications nowadays (I think this is probably a recent thing).