Academic Attire

Academic caps and gowns will be available for pick up at the Wagner College Bookstore during normal hours of operation between Monday, April 3 and Thursday, May 18. Before you pick up your cap and gown, you will need to complete an online survey about your experiences at Wagner and your plans after graduation. You will receive a link to the survey in a separate email from the Center for Academic and Career Engagement (CACE). If you have questions about this survey, please contact CACE at 718-390-3181 or cace@wagner.edu.

Students who are unable to come to the Bookstore should call 718-390-3469 so that alternate arrangements can be made.

Students should pick up graduation apparel well in advance so that gowns can be pressed. It is important that all students wear proper attire; for example, men should wear a white shirt and tie under their gown.

The mortarboard cap should be worn squarely on top of the head with the flat surface parallel to the ground and the tassel on the right side.

Academic costume

The use of the academic costume, which seems to have originated in the English universities of Oxford and Cambridge, has been traditional in university life since medieval times. In England and other European countries academic attire generally is distinctive with each university so that very colorful ensembles of diverse styles are commonly used abroad.

Unlike European academic apparel, the academic costume of American universities follows a regular pattern, the styles and colors having been established by an intercollegiate agreement in 1895. Cap, hood and gown are prescribed in style. Color variations indicate differences in the field of knowledge presented and the conferring institutions. You will see these differences in the academic regalia worn by members of our faculty, seated on either side of the stage, during commencement.

The mortarboard cap is identical for holders of bachelor’s and master’s degrees. For holders of the doctorate, the cap may be made of velvet and the tassel may be gold. Candidates for the bachelor’s degrees wear the tassel on the right of the cap, changing it to the left side after the degree has been conferred.

The bachelor’s gowns are designed with full sleeves. The master’s gown comes with a long, decorative attachment to the sleeves, called a “tail.” The doctor’s gown has bell-shaped sleeves with velvet bars and is faced with velvet around the collar and down the front edges.

Wagner College master’s students also wear hoods signifying their area of study: brown for business (including MBA and accounting), blue for education and yellow for the sciences (including microbiology, nursing and physician assistant).

Graduating students may purchase a Wagner Green gratitude stole, which they may wear over their commencement robe. After the commencement program, the gratitude stole is given to someone who has made a difference in the student’s academic career.

Bachelor’s students who have studied abroad, either for an Expanding Your Horizons course or for a semester or more, may wear a sash signifying the country in which they studied. Up to four countries may be signified on a single sash.

Additionally, students who belong to honor societies or fraternal organizations wear distinctive colored cords and/or stoles: