Office of the Registrar

Diplomas

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Your UC Santa Cruz Diploma

Have questions about your diploma? Find out when it will arrive, how your name will appear, and what to do if you need a replacement. This page covers everything you need to know about your diploma after graduation. For information about applying to graduate or participating in commencement, visit the Graduation and Commencement pages.

Diploma Basics

Students receive their diploma after their degree has been awarded. Diplomas are typically available three to four months after the end of the term in which the degree was granted.

Undergraduate diplomas include:

  • Diploma Name
  • Degree Awarded (Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, or Bachelor of Music), major(s), and date of degree. If you have two degrees—for example, both a B.A. and a B.S.—both degrees will be listed on one diploma. 
  • University honors and any honors awarded in the major are listed.
  • Undergraduate diplomas do not show major concentrations except for the B.A. in Literature.  
  • Minors do not appear on the diploma, but are on your official and unofficial transcripts.

Graduate diplomas include:

  • Degree Awarded (Certificate, Master of Arts, Master of Science, Doctor of Philosophy, etc.) and your program of study, which may include a designated emphasis.
  • Graduate program diplomas do not indicate any honors.

Diploma Name and Address

A few days before diplomas are ordered, you will receive an email displaying the name that will appear on your diploma and the address to which it will be shipped. Please read this email carefully.

Paper diplomas are automatically mailed to the permanent address listed in MyUCSC. Be sure to keep your address up to date in MyUCSC to avoid delays.  

  • Electronic (eDiplomas) are not available at this time (see below).
  • International addresses often result in delays and/or lost diplomas.  Please use a U.S. address, if possible to avoid this.

Diplomas display your diploma name, including middle name, in all capital letters, along with any accent marks. Prefixes do not appear on the diploma, but the suffix will appear if you provide one. Your diploma name defaults to the lived name you have in MyUCSC. You can specify the name you’d like to appear on your diploma by entering a diploma name in MyUCSC. To do this:

  1. Log into MyUCSC.
  2. Select the Personal Information tile.
  3. Click Names from the left-side menu.
  4. Follow the instructions to add or update your diploma name.

Replacement of a Diploma

Each student is issued one original courtesy copy of their diploma. If you need a replacement due to an incorrect address input on the initial order, or a new diploma based on a changed name, follow these steps:

  1. Complete the Diploma Replacement Request Form.
    • If requesting due to a legal name change, attach legal documentation verifying the change of name along with a Request for Change of Name on University Records form. If requesting a new diploma due to a lived name change, indicate on the form and change your lived name in MyUCSC.
    • Submit your request to the Office of the Registrar.
      1. You may email the form to registrar@ucsc.edu.  If you do so, the fees will be posted to your MyUCSC account and must be paid online (more information here).
      2. Alternatively, you may send the request by mail or bring it in person to the Office of the Registrar (address below).  If you choose one of these options, you may either have the bill posted to your MyUCSC account or attach an $80 check made payable to “UC Regents.”
  2. All replacement diplomas will include a small notation indicating that they are replacements.

Processing Time

Replacement diplomas typically take four to six weeks to process. Expedited options are available for an additional fee.

Damaged Diplomas

If your original diploma arrived damaged, you may return it to UC Santa Cruz for a complimentary replacement.

Diploma Holds

If there is a billing hold on your account, it may prevent you from receiving a diploma from UC Santa Cruz’s printing vendor. To resolve this:

  1. Review the hold details in your MyUCSC portal.
  2. Contact the appropriate office listed in the hold information for assistance.  

Please note that the Office of the Registrar does not place these holds and cannot remove them.  Once the hold is removed, your diploma will be ordered and shipped following the normal timeline.

CeDiplomas*

 * As of spring 2024, this service has been suspended until further notice.

Certified Electronic Diplomas (CeDiplomas) are online versions of diplomas that are secured credentials that students may share electronically. Students who graduated between spring 2022 and Winter 2024 received complimentary CeDiplomas. We hope to be able to offer this service to other UCSC graduates for a fee at a later date. Until then, only paper diplomas may be reordered using the diploma replacement form, see above. 

For CeDiploma Validation, or to learn more about this service, see the CeDiplomas page.

Last modified: Sep 26, 2025