Ordering Caps, Gowns and Hoods
Bachelor's and Master's Candidates
Graduates must wear a cap and gown (academic regalia) for the commencement ceremony. Caps and gowns may be purchased during Grad Expo, Wednesday and Thursday, March 19 & 20, from 10:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. at the Barnes & Noble Bookstore, 82. W. Warren Avenue.
The purchase price for the Bachelor's gown, cap and tassel is $37.98. The cost for the Master's cap, gown, hood and tassel is $67.98
A limited supply of caps and gonws will be avaiable following Expo at the bookstore during normal business hours: Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m. - 7 p.m.; Friday, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. and Saturday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. (closed Sunday). Barnes & Noble accepts cash, check, credit card and the OneCard for these purchases. For more information, call the bookstore at (313) 577-2436 or visit wayne.bkstre.com.
Doctoral Candidates
While Bachelor's and Master's degree candidates purchase academic regalia to wear at commencement and keep after the ceremony, doctoral candidates must rent their cap, gown and hood from the bookstore. The rental cost for Ph.D. regalia is $85.98. The rental cost for other doctoral degrees is $77.98. You will need to place your order, with a deposit, at Barnes & Noble. To place an order you will need to know your height, weight, hat size and degree earned (Ph.D., Ed.D., etc.) from Wayne State. The bookstore will inform you of the due date for all rented regalia. If you choose to purchase your regalia the bookstore will inform you of the cost.
History of Caps and Gowns
One of the most colorful features of an academic procession is the appearance of the graduates, faculty, guests and Board of Governors in full academic costume. These caps, gowns and hoods have long histories and their patterns and colors have special significance.
The gown recalls the time when all students in centers of higher learning were members of the clergy and therefore wore garments the church considered proper.
The custom of wearing a cap comes from the Roman practice of giving slaves the right to wear a cap when they were granted their freedom. The Oxford or “mortarboard” cap worn today is thought to be a combination of the close-fitting cap worn indoors by scholars of the Middle Ages and the soft biretta worn outdoors.
The tuft on the early cap has been replaced by a colored tassel that signifies the college granting the degree.
In modern universities, the distinctive mark of a degree is the hood, which in its earliest form was simply an article of clothing. Since the churches and lecture halls of European universities were cold, drafty places, scholars wore hoods as head coverings, attached to a cape or worn separately.
American universities, unlike those of England and Europe, have adopted a standard code of academic costume. The design of the gown, the color of the tassel and the pattern, length and colors of the hood have special meaning.
Each graduate wears a gown appropriate to the degree to be granted. The bachelor’s gown is closed at the throat and has long, pointed sleeves. The master’s gown has oblong sleeves, open at the wrist, and tapers at the back in a square cut. The doctor’s gown is faced with velvet and has bell-shaped sleeves. Each sleeve carries three bars of velvet, or chevrons. Wayne State uses a specially designed green gown for its PhD/EdD candidates.
The most colorful part of the costume is the hood. The color of the velvet trim indicates the department in which the degree was granted; the width corresponds to the level of the degree. At this ceremony, candidates for master’s and doctoral degrees wear hoods with lining in the university colors.
Colors of tassels and college standards:
| Business Administration | Drab |
| Education | Light Blue |
| Engineering | Orange |
| Fine, Performing and Communication Arts | Brown |
| Graduate Studies | Crimson |
| Law | Purple |
| Liberal Arts and Sciences | White |
| Library Science | Yellow |
| Medicine | Green |
| Nursing | Apricot |
| Pharmacy and Health Sciences | Olive |
| Social Work | Citron |