Charles and Louise Travers Department of Political Science, UC Berkeley

The ceremonial scroll you receive at Commencement is not a diploma, since degrees take several months to process. Diplomas are available approximately 4-5 months after each graduation date. Keep your address, telephone number and e-mail current on Bearfacts for at least 4 months after leaving Cal, should the university need to contact you about the processing of your degree. Thanks to the Alumni Association and the Office of the Registrar, undergraduate students on the Spring, Summer and Fall degree lists of 2008 will be receiving their diplomas in the mail free of charge. Bearfacts is open to record a diploma mailing address for students on that semester's degree list. If an address is not supplied, the diploma will be mailed to the permanent home address. Questions can be addressed to the Diploma Office at 510-642-4814.

Your official transcript will show your final grades three to four weeks after the last day of final exams. The date of your degree will appear on your transcript approximately three months after the term in which the degree was conferred. You can check your unofficial transcript on Bearfacts three to four months after your last semester to make sure you did graduate! Information about the availability of transcripts showing the degree and how to order transcripts and diplomas may be found at http://registrar.berkeley.edu/Records/transdipl.html (external link).

If you need proof that you have completed all of your requirements for the degree before your final transcript is available, you can obtain a Certificate of Completion from the Registrar's Office. This service is only available starting one month after the end of the term (approximately early July). Forms for this may be downloaded from http://registrar.berkeley.edu/elecforms/Cert.of.Cmpl.pdf (external link) and mailed to 120 Sproul Hall, UCB, Berkeley, CA 94720-5404, Attn: Records, or faxed to 510-643-9201. Certificates of Completion will be issued within approximately two weeks.

If you need proof that you have completed all of your degree requirements before early July, a request for an Early Dean's report may be made by contacting the Letters and Science Evaluation Unit at 510-642-7391.

If you expect to graduate at the end of the current term and need to provide verification to a third party, you may request a Letter of Intent to Graduate from Letters and Science. You must bring with you a Completion of Major memo which you can get from the Undergraduate Advising Office in 296 Barrows. The Letter of Intent will be generated within 10 working days.

If you need to verify attendance and/or graduation for insurance, scholarships, Law School Dean's Appraisals or Certifications, etc., you can download a request form at http://registrar.berkeley.edu/elecforms/VReq.Form-main.pdf (external link) and submit it to the Verifications Office in 120 Sproul Hall, UCB, Berkeley, CA 94720-5404, or fax it to 510-643-4222.

Members of the public can verify a student's dates of attendance and/or degree by providing the student's Social Security Number and last name at http://infobears.berkeley.edu:3400/degver/ (external link).