Order Cap & Gown

Commencement Attire

The ceremonial attire for your big day is customized to mark the occasion. This outfit means celebrating you and the biggest academic milestone you’ve reached yet.

All graduates attending the Commencement ceremony must wear custom IU apparel. You simply order your graduation apparel from our Commencement partner, Herff Jones. Your order consists of a robe, cap, tassel, and hood for those obtaining a graduate degree or a stole of gratitude for undergraduates.

The gown you’ll wear is a lightweight black gabardine robe with braided crimson piping. Graduates will also wear a cap adorned with a colored tassel representing their graduating school or discipline of study. See more information and examples of apparel and tassels below.

The deadline to order apparel has passed. See this page for more information on how you can still get apparel for the big day.

Returning Apparel

After the ceremony, you must return your rented gown and hood to Herff Jones using the prepaid shipping label provided. You may also reuse the shipping box. Failure to return apparel may result in a fine.

All graduates receiving Associate's and Bachelor’s degrees must return the gowns; you will keep the cap, tassel, and stole.

All graduates receiving Master’s and doctorate degrees must return the gowns and hoods; you will keep the cap/tam and tassel.

Request a missing shipping label here.

Types of Gowns

Bachelor’s and Associate Gowns

The bachelor’s and associate gowns have a closed front and open sleeves.

Candidates for bachelor’s and associate degrees also receive a crimson Stole of Gratitude, embellished with the Indiana University seal, which they wear during the ceremony.

A male graduate student from the Kelley School of Business, wearing master's graduation attire, waves to the audience. The unique style of his gown's sleeve is on display.

Master’s Gowns

The master’s gown has extra long, closed sleeves, with a small opening at the wrist. The end of the sleeve is square, with an arc cut away just above the bottom.

A female doctoral graduate smiles as she holds her doctoral hood over her arm at commencement.

Doctoral Gowns

The doctoral gown has velvet panels down the front and voluminous, bell-shaped sleeves. Each sleeve has three velvet bars. The velvet is usually black, but may reflect the color of the discipline.

Honor Cords & Criteria

Doctoral Hooding

Find Your Tassel and Hood Colors

All students wear caps with tassels from the school they’re graduating from. Candidates for graduate degrees also wear hoods that reflect their fields of learning.

Informatics, Computing, and Engineering COPPER

Public and Environmental Affairs PEACOCK BLUE

Faculty Hoods, Tassels, and Sashes

If you have a Ph.D. from IU, you’ll wear a royal blue hood and gold tassels. If you’ve received a Ph.D. from somewhere else, your regalia will reflect that institution.

If you have a bachelor’s or master’s degree, you’ll wear regalia that reflects your highest degree and the granting institution.

Questions? Get in Touch With Our Commencement Team for Help.

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