What Does a College Diploma Look Like?

Updated September 2026 · Sources listed at the end

A US college diploma is one sheet of heavy paper, printed in one or two colors, somewhere between 8.5 by 11 and 16 by 20 inches depending on the institution and the level of the degree. It names the university, states in a single formal sentence that the trustees have admitted the graduate to a degree, gives the graduate’s name and the full title of that degree, dates the conferral, and closes with an embossed or foil seal and the signatures of two to four officers. At some universities the whole of that is in Latin.

What surprises most people is how little it says. There is no GPA on a diploma, usually no minor, often no major at all, and never a list of courses. A diploma is a ceremonial statement that a degree was granted. The record of what was studied lives on the transcript.

Reading a college diploma line by line

Universities that print in Latin publish official English translations, which is the easiest way to see what the sentences on a diploma actually say. The wording below is quoted from the registrars’ own translation pages.

Two things follow from that structure. The conferral sentence is a legal statement about a corporate act, which is why it names trustees, a senate or a board instead of a person. And the seal and signatures belong to offices instead of individuals. A diploma reissued twenty years later therefore carries whoever holds those offices today.

There is no standard college diploma size

People assume a single “diploma size” exists. It does not, and the range is wide enough that a frame bought on assumption will not fit. Several universities also use different dimensions for different levels of degree.

Measure the sheet before ordering a frame, and note that the same university can change its dimensions. Chicago’s diplomas were letter-sized until 2011 and have been 9 by 12 inches since. Stock varies as much as size. Scranton embosses its seal in gold on every level of diploma, while other institutions use foil or a printed seal. What diplomas are printed on, and why paper is usually the first thing to give away a poor copy, is covered in what paper are diplomas printed on, and the seal itself in diploma seals explained.

The seal and the signatures

The seal is the institution’s mark, and registrars describe it plainly. Scranton embosses the university seal in gold on associate, baccalaureate and graduate diplomas alike, each signed by the dean of the school or college and by the University President. Washington University’s diplomas are “signed by the administration of Washington University and contain an embossed seal”.

At public universities the list of signatories can reach beyond the campus: UC Irvine notes that a replacement diploma “will bear the signatures of current state and University officials”. Signatures are also reproduced instead of hand-written, and institutions keep them on file. Georgetown holds every signature back to 1980 electronically with its printing company, and for older diplomas that it cannot match, “all other signatures will be replaced with the current year’s signatures”.

Latin or English?

A good share of older US universities still confer in Latin, and it is a genuine break in the pattern rather than decoration.

• Georgetown diplomas are printed in Latin. The registrar issues an English translation letter, on standard letter-size paper, on request.
• Scranton prints baccalaureate diplomas “in the Jesuit tradition of Latin”, but not its associate, certificate or graduate diplomas, which are in English. One university, two languages, decided by level.
• Princeton splits by degree instead of by level. According to the University Archives, “a Bachelor of Arts diploma is always written in Latin, while a Bachelor of Science diploma will typically be written in English”.
• Washington University moved the other way. All of its diplomas are now written fully in English, and only degrees conferred before 2022 were issued entirely in Latin.

Latin diplomas also preserve old spelling. Princeton’s reads “Vniuersitatis”, not “Universitatis”, because scribes writing Latin used what we read as a V at the start of a word and a U inside it. The classical Latin alphabet had 23 letters, and the two were largely interchangeable. Princeton has used that spelling since it stopped being the College of New Jersey in 1896.

If a Latin diploma has to satisfy an employer, a foreign university or a government office, the answer is the registrar’s translation letter instead of a private translation. Williams College, for example, prints its translation on official letterhead with the college seal. For documents going abroad, Georgetown makes transcripts, diploma translations and original or duplicate diplomas available for apostille under the 1961 Hague Convention, which is what makes a US document usable in another signatory country. The best-known Latin diploma in the country gets its own walk-through in what a Harvard diploma looks like.

Honors, majors, and what is deliberately left off

This is where reader expectations and registrar practice part company. Honors usually appear. Majors sometimes appear. Minors almost never do, and a GPA never does.

Two consequences are worth knowing before ordering anything. A second major is not a second degree, and Washington University issues one diploma showing the primary degree title. Two different degree types, a BA and a BS, do produce two diplomas at UC Irvine. And the rules are not retroactive. Chicago will not reissue a pre-2023 diploma with the extra majors its current design would carry.

Latin honors are calculated from the GPA even though the GPA is never printed. Scranton’s thresholds are published: a 3.85 cumulative GPA for summa cum laude, 3.65 for magna cum laude, 3.50 for cum laude, each with a minimum of 45 credits counting in the GPA and at least 63 credit hours completed at the university.

The name on the diploma

The name is drawn from the student record, and the record is what employers and schools are checked against. Georgia uses “the student’s full legal name in the student information system”. Binghamton prints the name exactly as entered on the Application for Degree and states that it cannot be changed once the diploma is printed. The name on the official record cannot change after the degree is conferred either.

Some institutions are more flexible, with a warning attached. Washington University “considers the diploma to be a ceremonial document” and allows a familiar or preferred name in place of the name of record, while cautioning that the diploma may need to be used as a legal document and that the name should then match the graduate’s other legal documents. Georgetown allows students to specify a chosen first name at graduation and, for anyone who wants both, will sell a duplicate with the other name, though duplicates carry the word “Exemplum” printed on them.

A replacement diploma does not look like the original

Registrars replace lost and damaged diplomas as a routine service, and most of them mark the reissue. That is the honest answer to the question behind a lot of searches for diploma images.

Two practical notes. Damage replacements are sometimes free. Washington University offers a complimentary replacement for substantially damaged diplomas, reviewed case by case with photo evidence. And UC Irvine destroys diplomas never collected after ten years, then reissues them free of charge. The full process, and what to do when the institution has closed, is in replacing a lost diploma.

College diploma, high school diploma, transcript

The three documents are confused constantly, usually at the moment an employer asks for one of them.

State law also constrains the high school document in ways that have no college equivalent: California’s Education Code forbids any diploma or certificate from bearing “any distinctive marking or words” indicating that the pupil was placed in a classification based on intellectual or mental capacity. The layout of the school document is walked through in what does a high school diploma look like, and the course-by-course record in what a transcript looks like. For documents at other levels and in other countries, see diploma examples. To place a credential in the sequence instead of reading the document, start at the how long each degree takes hub.

The digital version, and what employers actually check

Most large universities now issue a certified electronic diploma alongside the paper one. Washington University’s is a “certified electronic diploma (CeDiD)”, an official, secure, verifiable PDF carrying a 12-digit code that an employer can validate directly with the university, and it exists precisely because the paper takes four to six weeks to arrive. Missouri’s graduates are emailed a link to purchase an electronic copy once the paper diploma is mailed.

That is a reminder of what the paper sheet is and is not. A diploma is not proof of anything on its own: UC Irvine tells graduates who need immediate proof of a degree to request an official transcript or a verification letter instead, and employers and licensing boards confirm credentials against institutional records instead of a photograph. What to send when an employer asks for “a copy of your diploma” is covered in what to do if an employer asks for a copy of your diploma.

Replica college diplomas for display

Once the real records are in hand, there are ordinary reasons to want a clean copy to hang: the original was damaged or lost in a move, it lives in a safe deposit box, a second one is wanted for a parent’s wall, or a prop is needed for a photograph, a film set or a stage production. ValidGrad’s replica college diploma maker produces novelty documents for display and commemoration, using generic seals and signature styles rather than any institution’s marks. Current pricing and turnaround are shown on the product page.

A replica is not an official document and proves nothing. It must never be used to claim a credential that was not earned, and never sent in answer to a verification request from an employer, a school, a licensing board or a government agency, and the Terms and Conditions forbid it. The answer to a verification request is always a record that comes from the institution.

Frequently asked questions

What does an official college diploma look like?

A single sheet of heavy stock, printed in one or two colors, with the university’s name across the top, a formal conferral sentence naming the trustees or governing board, the graduate’s name in large type, the full title of the degree, the date of conferral, an embossed or foil seal and two to four signatures. Sizes run from 8.5 by 11 inches to 16 by 20. Anything showing grades, credits or a course list is a transcript, not a diploma.

Is a college diploma the same thing as a college degree?

No. The degree is the qualification the institution awards and records permanently; the diploma is the sheet of paper that commemorates it. The degree survives the loss of the paper, which is why every registrar will sell a replacement, and why the replacement is usually marked as one.

Is GPA on a college diploma?

No US registrar prints a GPA on a diploma. Latin honors, which are calculated from the GPA, often do appear. Scranton awards summa cum laude at a 3.85 cumulative GPA, magna cum laude at 3.65 and cum laude at 3.50. The GPA itself appears on the transcript.

What size frame do I need for a college diploma?

Measure the diploma first. Among the universities surveyed here the sizes are 8.5 × 11, 9 × 12, 11 × 14, 11 × 17, 12 × 15, 13 × 17 and 16 × 20 inches, and several institutions use different sizes for undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. Chicago’s diplomas changed size in 2011, so the year of graduation matters as well.

Why is my diploma in Latin, and how do I get it translated?

Several universities still confer in Latin, sometimes only for particular degrees. Princeton writes the Bachelor of Arts in Latin and the Bachelor of Science typically in English, and Scranton uses Latin for baccalaureate diplomas but not for its associate or graduate ones. Ask the registrar for the official English translation letter instead of commissioning a private translation. Georgetown prints one on letter-size paper on request; Williams issues its translation on official letterhead with the college seal.

Sources

1. University of Scranton, Office of the Registrar, Diploma Information.
2. University of Missouri, Office of the University Registrar, Diplomas.
3. Binghamton University, Office of the Registrar, Diploma.
4. University of Chicago, University Registrar, Diploma FAQs.
5. University of Georgia, Office of the Registrar, Printed Diploma.
6. UC Irvine, Office of the Registrar, Diplomas.
7. Washington University in St. Louis, Office of the University Registrar, Diploma FAQs and Latin Diploma Translations.
8. Georgetown University, University Registrar, Diploma Replacement, Translation and Apostille.
9. Williams College, Registrar’s Office, Diploma Translation.
10. William & Mary, University Registrar, English Translation of Latin Diploma.
11. Princeton University Archives, Why Does My Princeton Diploma Spell “University” as “Vniuersitatis”?
12. New York State Education Department, General Education and Diploma Requirements.
13. California Education Code, section 51410.

Registrar pages, dimensions and fees were read on September 13, 2026. Institutions change diploma designs, sizes and fees without notice; confirm with the issuing registrar before relying on a detail.