These changes were not communicated to the recent graduates so when they got their diplomas some noticed that based on their old diplomas, Delta changed them drastically. The old degree looked more squared and small, had a lot of yellow, and had no cursive font on it. The new degree looks more rectangular and bigger, it is in black and white, and it has cursive font on it.
Delta’s Director of marketing and communications, Alex Breitler, confirmed Delta is working on degrees with an outside vendor.
“We have been working on some improvements to our diplomas not only the design itself but also how quickly students receive them. For that reason we are now using an outside vendor to process diplomas”.”
Breitler said student feedback played a big role in the degree change.
“Based on student feedback, that vendor is called Diplomatic and they created a new design that is more traditional from an aesthetic point of view,” he said.
Past graduates who received an old diploma can pay a $20 fee (plus shipping) to request a reprint of the degree with the new design.
Brietler also praised the new vendor’s turnaround time.
“Diplomatic is also printing and mailing degrees on behalf of the college,” he said. “Using Diplomatic will cut down on some of the processing and delivery times so that students will receive their diplomas as quickly as possible.”
Diplomatic also has an option to purchase a digital version of your diploma for $12. This is voluntary graduating students will still receive a printed copy of their degree via mail free of charge.
Former Delta student Noel Japzon Jr. actually obtained two degrees after graduating in the Spring 2021 and the Spring 2023.
Japzon Jr. sees the degree change as a good thing.
“Although Delta never informed us about the degree change,” I still feel very accomplished about my psychology degree as a psychology major and I like the new degree,” Japzon said.
In the past Delta received criticism for its degrees as a lot of former students thought they had put little to no effort into their degrees but this new one is getting a lot of positive feedback from graduates. In 2021, Delta College modernized the degrees, which earned backlash from students, particularly in a San Joaquin Delta College Facebook group with nearly 8,000 members. The degrees were redesigned again following the feedback.
Former Collegian staffer and Delta student Christina Goodman graduated in the Spring of 2023 and she understands why Delta made changes to the degree.
“”I really like the new one because it’s bigger and I was able to make copies of them,” Goodman said. “I believe they changed it because of people complaining about it in the past and I don’t feel less appreciated because they didn’t let us know.”