Caps and gowns, regalia

Cap and gowns will be available for pickup from campus CCBC Bookstores beginning Monday, May 1, 2023.

Commencement Participation Form must be submitted prior to regalia pickup.


Announcements

Each graduate will receive 10 announcements when picking up their cap and gown at the CCBC Bookstore. Students may also purchase additional announcements at $10 per package of 10.

Costs

There is no fee for the cap and gown. Graduates wishing to purchase additional tassels may do so when they pick up their cap and gown. Additional tassels cost $6.98 each and can only be purchased at a CCBC bookstore. They are not available online.

Wearing the academic regalia

To the associate degree candidate, perhaps the most important element of academic regalia is the tassel.

Traditionally, it is worn on the right side of the mortarboard until the president, during the ceremony, formally confers degrees upon the recipients. The tassel is then moved from the right side to the left side of the mortarboard. This act symbolizes each recipient's new and well-earned status.
  • Graduates with an overall grade point average of 3.40 or greater are eligible to wear gold honor tassels as part of their graduation regalia. The overall grade point average is determined by computing your cumulative course work from CCBC.

Commencement-day weather can range from rainy and cool to sunny and hot — sometimes all in the same morning! Students participating in the CCBC commencement ceremony are encouraged to wear occasion and weather-appropriate clothing beneath their regalia.

Lightweight fabrics are generally a good choice to help avoid becoming overheated. Students should consider wearing low-heeled shoes in order to more easily maneuver the stairs and grassy areas of the ceremony site. 

Graduates who do not have proper academic regalia (cap and gown) will not be permitted to process and cross the stage.

Decoration of academic regalia
Graduates may decorate their mortarboards for the commencement ceremony. Embellishments are limited to the graduation cap mortarboard (the square, flat top) only. The academic gown and hood cannot be altered or decorated.

Since commencement is an official academic ceremony, we ask that all decorations be in good taste, be a positive representation of CCBC’s academic programs and community, and be family-friendly. There may be no three-dimensional decorations (items extending up from or hanging down from the mortarboard).

Graduates with mortarboard decorations that do not meet these guidelines may be asked to remove their decorations prior to the ceremony.

Important deadlines regarding commencement regalia

Monday, May 1
Students:
First day to pick up commencement regalia at campus bookstores.
NOTE: Commencement Participation Form must be completed prior to regalia pickup.

Friday, May 20
Faculty:
Regalia orders placed on or after this date are not guaranteed to arrive on time for the ceremony and will be assessed a $30 late fee in addition to the cost of the cap and gown. A CCBC bookstore manager will contact faculty when the regalia arrives.

Sunday, June 4
Students: Last day to pick up commencement regalia (in person at the CCBC Essex Bookstore).