Graduation FAQ

All graduates wear a custom UC Davis rental gown, cap and tassel. Additionally, masters and doctors wear an academic hood, which drapes from the front of the neck down the back and signifies the degree earned and the university conferring it. When you visit the cap and gown rental site it will show you what you need to rent based on your initial selections.

Your rental includes a custom rental gown designed for UC Davis, a “one-size-fits-most” mortarboard cap and a tassel with your year of graduation. The rental gown must be returned after your ceremony, but you may keep both your cap and tassel. Caps and tassels will also be sold individually during Gown Pickup and do not need to be pre-ordered. If your degree requires you to rent a hood as well, that also must be returned after the ceremony with the gown.

You may keep both the cap and tassel. Only gowns and hoods must be returned.

Rental gowns are sized by height in 2-inch increments. All you will need to know when renting your gown is your degree, height in inches and weight. Gowns with a wider yoke will also be available in limited quantities and sizes.

Graduate packages (Grad Packs) combining your gown rental with various souvenir items, announcements, etc. are available at a discount. Grad Packs can be purchased through the UC Davis Stores. You can download a PDF with info and pricing before you order. Below the Grad Pack pricing on the PDF, you will also find a la carte pricing for rental and individual souvenir items.

Once you have decided what you want, you can place your order through cap and gown rentals. You will be taken to our vendor’s site, where you will have tab options to either order a Grad Pack or order items individually, such as cap and gown rental or announcements only.

Your gown can only be ordered in a Grad Pack or by itself. However, all Grad Pack souvenir items can be purchased a la carte from UC Davis Stores, either at ucdavisstores.com or in the Campus Store.

All gown rentals and grad packs must be picked up on campus during Cap and Gown Pickup. Please see the Cap and Gown Information Page for dates and times.

No. Since the rental stock does not arrive until just prior to the ceremony week, there is not time to coordinate shipments to individual graduates.

Yes. You can give your emailed confirmation to a friend or family member to collect your gown for you. It helps if they also bring your student ID.

Gowns will be available through the day of the ceremony. Please note, gowns picked up late will be subject to remaining available sizes.

Every effort is made to ensure we have enough of each size gown. However, because bulk sizes of gowns must be ordered long before all graduates have placed their rental orders, there is no way to guarantee that a given size will not run out. If a size does run out, you will be given the next size up or down, which will mean that it may be one to two inches either shorter or longer, which usually is not very noticeable. We recommend pickup during the specified dates.

Collection stations will be located outside the ceremony venue after all official commencement ceremonies, approximately ½ hour before the end of each ceremony until approximately 1 hour afterward. The Campus Store will not accept return gowns during the main ceremony weekend.

Please note: On-site gown collection is not provided at group celebrations where degrees are not being conferred.

Gowns and hoods not returned either immediately after a ceremony or to the Campus Store on the Monday following the ceremony weekend will be subject to a late return fee, beginning at $5 and increasing by $5 each week, max: $20.

A replacement fee will be charged for non-returned gowns. Please contact us at gradsupplies@ucdavis.edu to make payment arrangements. Diplomas and transcripts may be held for non-returned gowns and/or non-payment of fees.

You cannot purchase and keep your rental gown. You can purchase custom regalia, which takes 8-12 weeks to receive.

Gown rental and Grad Pack orders may be cancelled through the Friday before gown distribution. After that, gown rentals will not be refunded without documented withdrawal of ceremony participation. Grad Pack merchandise may be individually returned at the Campus Store, with a 15% restocking fee deducted from the refund amount. All refund requests must be pre-approved by emailing gradsupplies@ucdavis.edu.

No. The blue and gold tassel is a souvenir. Your commencement tassel will be provided with your cap and gown rental or may be purchased separately if you purchased a gown.

The Commemorative Stole of Appreciation is a symbol of your accomplishments at UC Davis. It is designed to be worn during commencement and then presented as a token of respect and appreciation to a family member or mentor, someone who has supported you throughout your academic endeavor.

Yes. It may be exchanged in-store and you will be charged the difference.

You may exchange the frame for any in-stock frame of equal or greater value, subject to stock on hand. You will be charged for any price difference.

No, but a "Core-Pack" of the basic items (stole, souvenir tassel, zipper pull, diploma cover) can be purchased individually (a la carte) at the Campus Store with the same discounted pricing as is in the packs.

Yes. Both the commencement tassel and the souvenir tassel can be ordered with past years. Please email the Commencement Coordinator at gradsupplies@ucdavis.edu with your request.

Announcements can take up to 3 weeks for delivery. Please contact the announcements vendor to request any special shipping arrangements or text changes.

If your question wasn’t answered in this FAQ, please email the Commencement coordinators at gradsupplies@ucdavis.edu.