Academic Attire

All graduates and degree candidates participating in the ceremonies are required to wear appropriate academic attire. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign graduates wear custom regalia designed specifically for the campus.

Ordering Rental Academic Attire

Academic attire may be ordered beginning September 16. The link will be provided here. The deadline to order academic attire and have it shipped at the early order discounted rate is November 14. Regular pricing and two-day shipping fees will be effective from November 15 through November 27.

Regalia can be picked up at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts on the dates and times listed below.

Regalia pick-up and return dates and times:

December 13, 10am-5pm
December 14, 9am-6pm
December 15, 11am-5pm
December 20, 10am-8pm
December 21, 9am-7pm

Apparel and Price (early order discounted rate):
Bachelor’s mortarboard, gown, stole, and tassel – $56.00
Master’s or Advanced Certificate mortarboard, gown, hood, and tassel – $64.00
Doctoral mortarboard, gown, hood, and tassel – $84.00

Orange and blue souvenir tassels may be purchased for $10.00; however, they are not to be worn during ceremonies.

Wearing Academic Attire

Watch a video on how to wear your academic attire.

The gown and stole arrive folded and may require steaming (do not iron).

Mortarboards and gowns are blue. The tassel is worn on the right front quadrant of the mortarboard and is moved to the left after the degree has been conferred.

Bronze Tablet recipients wear an orange and blue braided cord that is worn on the left shoulder.

For Master’s and Doctoral degree candidates, the color of the velvet on the hood indicates the field of study, and the tassel is black. Candidates will return the gown and hood to Herff Jones. They may keep the mortarboard and the tassel.

The tassel worn by Bachelor’s candidates indicates their field of study. Candidates will return the gown to Herff Jones. They may keep the mortarboard, stole, and tassel.

For all academic purposes, the velvet on Doctoral hoods represent either Aud.D, D.V.M., Ed.D., J.D., J.S.D., M.D., and PhD degrees. For the velvet colors for Master’s hoods, and the tassel color for Bachelor’s caps, the color associated with the different disciplines are as follows:

Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, maize
Applied Health Sciences, sage green
Architecture, blue-violet
Business, drab
Education, light blue
Engineering, orange
Fine and Applied Arts, brown
Information Sciences, lemon
Labor and Employment Relations, drab
Law, purple
Liberal Arts and Sciences, white
Media, crimson
Medicine, kelly green
Music, Master/Doctorate of, pink
Philosophy, dark blue
Public Health, salmon
Social Work, citron
Veterinary Medicine, gray

Women should wear mortarboards at all times; men should remove mortarboards only during the singing of the National Anthem. Jewelry, flowers, or other embellishments worn on the mortarboard or gown are inappropriate.

Cords may be awarded to outstanding students in recognition of academic excellence, membership in a national honor society, or awarding of a national scholarship.

Academic Attire Returns

Regalia orders that were shipped to graduates and faculty included a return shipping label. Replacement labels are available through Herff Jones. If you do not know your order number, you may print your home ship return label via this website. After you have entered the contact information and the address from which it is being shipped, you will be taken to a new screen. The new screen notes that you should print the label and attach them to your box. The label will also be emailed to you. You will need to take your package to a drop off location near you. If the package is under 20″x12″x6″ you can also use a FedEx Drop Box. The charge for FedEx pickup is not included with your rental price, so please do not request this service.

Graduate and Faculty regalia may also be returned at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts immediately following the ceremonies. There will be no in-person pick-up or returns available after December 21 at 7pm. Regalia returns may be made on behalf of someone else.

Bachelor’s graduates only need to return the rented gown. The cap, tassel, and stole are your souvenirs.

Master’s and Doctoral graduates need to return the rented gown and hood. The cap and tassel are your souvenirs.

Purchasing Academic Attire

Herff Jones Cap and Gown Company is the only company that manufactures the Urbana-Champaign campus custom regalia. If you are interested in purchasing a mortarboard, gown and/or hood, please contact our Herff Jones representative at pattystorie@att.net or (314) 369-6668.

This is not a retail store; therefore, you must call to schedule an appointment to meet with a sales representative. Depending on the attire you wish to purchase, you should allow six to eight weeks for delivery.