Diploma Name Policy

The graduate’s name that appears on a Bradley University diploma must be a legal name. Variations from an official name requested at the time of submitting a Degree Application are the following:

• Middle name may be complete, initialed, or omitted, but must match the student record (e.g., John Quincy Adams, John Q. Adams, or John Adams).
• A legal middle name may be used in place of a first name if that middle name has been recorded in the student record.
• Suffixes such as Sr., Jr., III, etc., may be used if included in the student record and documented on the student’s original application, transcript from another school, or birth certificate.
• Maternal surnames may be included if documentation is provided to the Office of the Registrar. Proper documentation is a copy of a birth certificate indicating the maternal surname or the student’s original admission application indicating the surname.
• Hyphenated maiden-married last names may be used, provided the student record has documentation to verify the names. A Notification of Change of Personal Data form accompanied by a copy of the Certificate of Marriage will be required if a name change has not been processed since the marriage. In all cases, verification will be based on information that is in the student record and not provided verbally.
• A maiden name may be used in place of a married name if the maiden name has been recorded in the student record.
• Special accent marks may be requested. Recognized linguistic marks will be included in the diploma name.
• No prefix or suffix related to a title or credential is permitted (e.g., Dr., D.M.D., Esq., etc.).