What are Graduate School Graduation Cap and Gown?

In every academic level, the required graduation cap and gown is always redesigned to distinguish the certain level among the others. But what is a graduate school graduation cap and gown? To define it, it is also best to identify what a graduate school is. Graduate school means the studies you take after a college degree and those are the master’s and doctorate degree.

A master’s and doctorate degree also requires some time, effort and requirements in order for one to successfully finish it. After college, one can proceed for a master’s degree and then proceed for a doctorate degree. It is a form of higher studies that not everyone considers to take because it needs a lot of time and resources to acquire. And in most cases, college graduates are busily building their own lives and careers that considering another step of education is just a luxury that cannot be easily afforded.

For the master’s and doctorate degree, graduation cap and gown instructions are a bit different and more detailed. A graduate school graduation cap and gown are more intricate looking than a college graduation cap and gown and lower.

First and foremost, a graduate school graduation cap and gown may be all black like that of a college graduation cap and gown but the master’s graduation gown have linings that contain the colors of their academic discipline same as the doctorate graduation gown but the doctorates have additional sleeve bands on their gown that is also colored according to their field of study or university they graduated from.
Both the master’s and doctorate graduation gown are usually in full ankle length which would in turn appear heavier than the other levels’ graduation gown. The sleeves of a master’s gown is usually bell-shaped while the doctorate gown have full wide sleeves.

A master’s graduation cap is also the mortarboard style one in black with a colored tassel representing the color of either their academic discipline or the school they are from. However, the doctorates have the most special graduation caps because they don’t wear the mortarboard style ones, instead they wear the so-called academic tams which are beret-like caps in the same color as their doctorate gown (black, in some cases dark blue). The tassels for these academic tams are bullion or gold-colored which are also different from all the other academic levels.

A graduate school graduation cap and gown is actually not complete without the graduation hoods that masters and doctorate degrees are required to wear. College degrees also have an assigned hood but are seldom required by schools to actually wear one during graduation. For the master’s and doctorate, a graduation hood is always needed to complete their graduation outfit.

For the master’s hood, it is only required to be three and a half feet long while the doctorate hood is required to be four feet long. Both hoods have a satin and velvet lining that represents both the color of their academic discipline and their University.