Final answer:
The query is about the use of capital letters in relation to academic degrees and other relevant scenarios such as parenthetical nonessential information, journal and book titles, and first-time abbreviations.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student's question pertains to the use of capital letters in formatting academic degrees. For instance, when mentioning an academic degree after a person's name, it is proper to capitalize both the name of the degree and its abbreviation. This is in accordance with certain style guidelines, such as those of the American Psychological Association (APA). Also, when using parentheses, one must remember to enclose nonessential information, which does not alter the overall meaning of the sentence if omitted. An example would be, 'He graduated with high honors (magna cu_m laude) and found a job immediately.'
When referring to a title in a journal or book, the capitalization should follow specific rules. For the title of a book, capitalize only the first word of the title, the first word after a colon (if there is a subtitle), and any proper nouns. Journal titles, on the other hand, should have all significant words capitalized. For instance, 'Journal of Higher Education' would have all three words capitalized as it is the title of a journal.
Abbreviations such as USDA or OSHA should be written out in full upon the first reference with the abbreviation in parentheses, and the abbreviation may be used thereafter. Proper capitalization matters in titles, organizations, and academic degrees, and it's important to use them correctly in academic writing.