All graduates participating in commencement must attend in full regalia (cap, tassel, gown, hood/stole). The Student Life Office emails all graduates with information about purchasing your cap and gown by March 1. Information about ordering your academic regalia for Commencement 2027 will be posted in late February.

The website to order Russell Sage College academic regalia is currently closed and will reopen in late February 2027 for our May 2027 commencement ceremony. However, graduates and family members can order other Russell Sage memorabilia, including class rings and diploma frames, online through our vendor, Herff Jones.

Helpful Tips Regarding Academic Regalia:

  • PLEASE ADHERE TO ORDER DEADLINES. After the online order deadline, graduates can purchase items through the campus bookstores in early May, but there is no guarantee that your required items will be available.
  • Students who order with delivery to the bookstore will receive email notification when regalia arrives on campus (around the first week of May).
  • If you have questions about the status of your online academic regalia order, please work directly with Herff Jones. The Student Life Office and campus bookstores do not have information about orders that were placed online.
  • As soon as your regalia order arrives, remove it from its packaging and hang it on a hanger to help remove any creases and wrinkles. Do not iron, launder or dry clean your gown.
  • Verify that all of the regalia pieces (cap, gown, tassel, hood) arrived and are the correct color. Bachelor’s caps and gowns are black; tassel colors correspond with your degree and are the same color as the velvet trim on your hood (see more info below). Master’s caps, tassels, and gowns are black. Doctoral gowns are green with a black tam and gold tassel. The inner lining of the hood for all graduates should be green and white (Sage’s colors) and the velvet trim on the hood should correspond with your degree per this chart.
    • Note that graduates in the College Experience Program wear the same black cap, tassel and gown that bachelor’s graduates wear, but they do not wear a hood. Instead, they wear a royal blue stole which is included in their regalia package along with their cap and gown, which are ordered online through Herff Jones.
  • If you receive any incorrect item or are missing an item from your order, you will be able to obtain the correct item from either campus bookstore after May 1.
  • If you have questions about your academic regalia (AFTER May 1), please call The Bookstore (Albany campus): 518-694-7378 or m.o.s.s. books (Troy campus): 518-274-0199.

For information about how to wear your Cap and Gown, check out one of these YouTube videos.
* Bachelor’s Degree : College Experience Program and Bachelors graduates can view this video for tips on how to wear their cap, gown, tassel. Please note this video does not show hoods, which are worn by Sage graduates earning bachelor’s degrees. Those grads can check out the master’s grad videos below for tips on wearing your hood.
* Master’s Degree
* Doctoral Degree

Graduates who have been awarded distinct honors by the College or their department may be given special honor cords, stoles, or pins to wear at the Commencement Ceremony. These are typically awarded by academic departments and honor societies. Click here for a list of honor cords and designations approved by the Provost’s office.

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