Diplomas
Diplomas are the physical manifestation of your degrees. They typically bear your name, the degree you received, the columbia seal, and the signatures of the university president and the dean of your school. You get them during Commencement week.
Columbia's standard diploma size isn't actually standard at all, which means you have to pay for the overpriced frames sold in the bookstore or get a frame custom made.
Law School diplomas are distinct from the standard diploma in that they're significantly larger, though they otherwise look the same. Barnard College degrees/diplomas are conferred by the trustees of Columbia University (as part of the Columbia-Barnard Intercorporate Agreement) , and include the seals of both schools.
If your diploma gets damaged or lost and you want to get it replaced, you need to send $100 along with a notarized application to the Registrar. [1] While the new diploma will display your date of graduation, it will bear the signatures of the current university president and dean of your school, who may be different from when you graduated.
Gallery
Columbia's most prestigious degree
Michael Pupin's Pulitzer Prize (which apparently is a recycled diploma)
Nikola Tesla's honorary doctorate 1894
