Diploma FAQ

Your College will review your record and certify your degree following the end of your final term. You may order an official degree transcript as soon as your degree is officially recorded on your academic record, usually within three to four weeks after your conferral date.

• A degree is the academic rank or grade earned by completing a specified program or study. It is what is awarded on your UIC Transcript after the term has concluded, final grades have posted, and you have successfully completed all requirements for that degree.
• A diploma is a certificate or deed issued by the University that testifies that the recipient has successfully completed a particular course of study.
• Commencement is a celebratory ceremony of the accomplishments of students who have or are expected to complete their requirements within that academic year. Participation in commencement does not correspond with whether a degree has or will be awarded.

The University can provide the following as proof of your degree:

• Apostille: A duplicate diploma(s) and official transcript are notarized with a statement of authenticity on the diploma.
• Copy of Diploma Verification: This is a copy of the original diploma with a statement of that it is true copy of the original diploma with the registrar signature and seal. The photocopy must be provided by the person making the request.
• Diploma
• Transcripts: once your degree has been recorded on your academic record, it will appear on this document.
• Verification of Degree: written confirmation of your degree provided by the Records Unit.

Diploma are ordered weekly as they are awarded by your college and will be sent to your current Diploma Address; if a Diploma Address is not on file we will send it to your Mailing Address listed in our system, and should be received approximately 1 week to 2 months after your conferral date. Failure to create a Diploma Address can result in the delay in the receipt of your diploma.

If your diploma address is a domestic address, it should arrive within 2 to 3 weeks. If it’s an international address, it should arrive within 4 to 6 weeks

Your diploma name is by default, your legal name. An approved Preferred First Name may be used on a diploma if requested by you on the Diploma Name Request form, otherwise your primary (legal) name shall be used. UIC recognizes that some students may wish to use a Preferred First Name other than their legal name to identify themselves on their diploma. However, please be advised that in some situations your diploma may need to be used as a legal document, and the name appearing on your diploma may need to match other legal documents you possess.

Please complete the Diploma Name Request form to modify the way your name appears ONLY on the official diploma for one or more of the following:

• Special capitalization/punctuation/accent marks* or spacing in your legal name which you wish to be included on your official diploma but cannot be accommodate in the Student Self-Service (i.e. Muñoz, René, LeeAnn, etc.).
• Replace your full middle name with an initial (i.e. change “Matthew” to “M”).
• Replace your legal first name with your preferred first name. (i.e. “Robert” to “Rob”).
• *For technical reasons, some characters may not be available. We will make every effort to accommodate your request, but it may not be possible.

You must submit a Diploma Name Request form to the Office of the Registrar as soon as possible as all changes must done by the last day of the term. Once diplomas are produced you will not be able to make any changes without purchasing another copy and returning back the original.

Office of the Registrar, MC 018
University of Illinois Chicago
Suite 1200 Student Services Building
1200 West Harrison Street
Chicago, Illinois 60607-7161
Attn: Diploma Processing Unit

You may enter special characters, such as hyphens, spaces, lower/upper case letters, accents, etc. No additional titles such as Miss, Esq. or Dr. etc., are permitted on the diploma name.

Students may make requests in writing by filling out the Diploma Name Request form by the last day of the term you are graduating in and mailing it to:

Office of the Registrar, MC 018
University of Illinois Chicago
Suite 1200 Student Services Building
1200 West Harrison Street
Chicago, Illinois 60607-7161
Attn: Records

You may change your address on the Student Self Service system. Graduates can create and/or update a Diploma Address on the Student Self Service system. All changes must be made prior to the last day of the term that you are graduating in. Address changes or pick up requests must be done by the end of the graduating term, diplomas are ordered weekly as your colleges award them.  *Currently at this time the pickup option is not available.

You may request by email at records@uic.edu that the Records Unit, Office of the Registrar hold your diploma until an alternative address known. Currently at this time the pickup option is not available.

All potential graduating students should consult with the records officer in their college.

If you are an upcoming graduating student and you need a formal letter verifying that you have met all degree requirements, contact your college records officer.

“How do you have a document notarized overseas?” is the frequently asked question of many U.S. citizens living overseas. Fortuitously, the U.S. Department of State has stated that any consular authorities at any consulate abroad or U.S. embassy are permitted to execute notarial acts. The notarial services offered by the consular officials are comparable to that of any notary public in the USA. Additionally, you may also provide your document to the local foreign notary to have it notarized and after that obtain it authenticated by the designated foreign authority – given that country has taken part in 1961’s Hague Convention Abolishing the Specifications of Legalization of International Public Documents. The “notarizing officials“ who are granted the rights to perform notarial services at a U.S. embassy or consulate involves officials of the Foreign Service (secretaries of embassy), consular officers, as well as any U.S. citizen employees specified by the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Citizens Services to carry out notarial acts. For individuals requiring a document notarized abroad, it is best to contact first the U.S. embassy or even consulate before continuing with the notarial request. You can call the American Citizens Services or maybe Consular Section to inquire the hours of procedure for notarization.

The Degree date/Date conferred is the date you officially graduated from your degree program. Often times this is not the date of your graduation commencement ceremony since the colleges still needs to you met all of your requirements for your degree.

Graduation

The term in which you have officially and successfully completed all of your graduation requirements. You must apply for the term (fall, spring, or summer) in which you plan to graduate through the my.uic portal. Once final grades are posted, your record will be evaluated and your diploma will be sent to you via mail to your address on file.

Commencement

Often referred to as “Graduation”, Commencement is the ceremony. It is an end-of-term semester celebration for students projected to successfully complete all of their graduation requirements by the end of that semester.

Commencement is coordinated by the Commencement Office.

Please contact the Office of the Registrar Records Unit for details; note there will be a fee and the return of the original diploma to make these changes at records@uic.edu.

Graduates may purchase a signed and certified PDF of their diploma for a one-time fee of $5.00. Graduates pay the $5.00 fee (per degree) directly to our diploma vendor, the Michael Sutter Company, and the eDiploma is accessible for life. The eDiploma may be used for jobs, work visas or other degree verification purposes. The eDiploma is offered in addition to the free diploma issued to all graduates. Your eDiploma is a official and legal electronic document. Your eDiploma is a high resolution color image of your actual diploma.

Recent graduates will receive an email containing a secure login ID and a link for ordering the eDiploma, once their original diploma has been mailed.  Many past graduates can order the eDiploma online via Michael Sutter’s website. Graduates must know their University of Illinois at Chicago ID number to log in to the website.

A Certified Electronic Diploma or eDiploma is for electronic use only. A eDiploma can be viewed using the latest Adobe Reader/ Acrobat and cannot be printed, but can always be shared.

Yes, there is a $5.00 one-time fee paid directly to the Michael Sutter Company. Once the fee is paid, students can retrieve their eDiploma for life at no further cost.

Yes, you can order from the our Online Diploma Service is available through our official diploma vendor, The Michael Sutter Company.

The eDiploma will be available approximately a week after your degree has been posted to your record. You will receive an email from Michael Sutter when your eDiploma is available for you to order.

Yes, you can download a copy of your eDiploma, and email it to anyone you desire.

A certified eDiploma should be opened with the latest version of Adobe Reader. The latest version of Adobe Reader is available for download at: https://get.adobe.com/reader/.

When the document is opened with Adobe Reader, it will reveal a signed, digital certificate that has been applied to the eDiploma. A blue ribbon will appear at the top of the document. The blue ribbon symbol is assurance that the document is authentic, comes from a verified source, and has not been altered.

The eDiploma has printing disabled so it cannot be printed. Your eDiploma is official as long as it is digital. If you print it, it cannot be validated or used as an official document

Yes. New diplomas will be available to JMLS alumni. Please visit https://registrar.uic.edu/student_records/diplomas for information on requesting your diploma.

Students completing a double major use coursework from multiple programs to complete one degree (e.g. B.S.). Most students who complete two or more majors only receive one degree. Sometimes a student has earned enough hours while pursuing a double major to qualify them for a double degree (e.g. B.A. and B.S. or two B.S. degrees).

For more information contact your college advisor. Students who successfully complete the requirements for two degrees will receive a diploma for each degree.

Yes, applicable Latin Honors are printed on official diplomas and also official transcripts. Latin Honors that are officially recorded on your record are based on your final institutional GPA. Latin Honors only apply to undergraduate, pharmacy and law students and the scale can be found on the registrar website.

Your diploma name, degree earned, honors earned (if applicable) and degree date are all listed on your diploma. Majors and minors are not listed on the diploma, but are listed in detail on your official transcript. A limited number of programs with specific degree requirements list the academic discipline as part of the degree name (i.e. Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (BSEE)), but that is the actual degree name. A list of approved degree titles can be found in the Undergraduate and Graduate Catalogs under Degree Program and Minor list.