Guidelines
- Take a picture of your decorated graduation cap (vertical photos work best; do not include your face)
- One free submission will be accepted per graduate
- Enter one of the following categories:
- Career-related
- Immigrant/Immigration Theme
- Inspirational (quotes, personal/powerful messages)
- Music-themed (Ex. song lyrics)
- Academic accomplishments (Ex. honor societies)
- First-Generation College Student Theme
- Latino/Latina/Latinx Theme
- African-American Theme
- Asian/Pacific Islander Theme
- Language theme (using a language other than English)
- Sports-themed
- LGBTQIA+ Theme
- All content on the graduation cap must have appropriate language and graphics (as determined by contest admin)
Public Voting
Winners will be determined by the number of votes received per contestant. Once a photo is submitted, it will appear in the online gallery and will be open to voting by the general public.
The voting period will end at 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time) on Monday, July 21, 2025. Votes must be registered by the online system before the deadline ends to be counted for the contest. If you are submitting votes close to the deadline, please keep in mind that processing time is necessary to register votes. We recommend using your vote bank to ensure that credit card processing has happened before. It is best not to wait until the last 30 minutes of the contest to submit a large number of votes.
To vote, go to the contestant page you wish to support and donate a minimum of $5 for five votes. When voters donate, they will be given the option to apply all of their votes to one contestant, spread their votes over various contestants, or store votes in a "vote bank" to be used at a later time. All votes are donations to More Than Bootstraps and help support student stipends, giving our first-generation students time and space to create a community of success in higher education. Donations are fully tax-deductible as permitted by law. All votes for photo submissions will be tabulated and displayed online.