This June, Ida B. Wells seniors will walk the graduation stage in ceremonial graduation caps and gowns. Every one of those students who bought their outfit likely purchased it from the same company, Jostens. However, this stretches beyond IBW. In fact, likely, every senior who bought their outfit from across the Portland Public School (PPS) district, bought it from the same place.

Jostens has dominated the market on caps, gowns, tassels, class rings, letter jackets and just about every other graduation good. If someone wants to walk the stage at graduation, a cap, gown and tassel are required. Together, these three items cost $55 from the IBW Jostens store. Jostens does its best to sell students the most expensive packages it offers, which group multiple products. These are much easier to find and more heavily marketed than the $55 cap, gown and tassel.

Caps and gowns are required because of “the formality of [graduation], and frankly the beauty of that formality,” according to Abby Menashe, the IBW Vice President Administrative Assistant. She says that the formality is a way for students to honor their class. 

There is support in place for graduating seniors who cannot afford a cap and gown. The outfit “should never be a financial barrier” for graduating students, Menashe adds. If IBW students are unable to afford their regalia, they can borrow a cap and gown from Sharon Dailey in the main office or borrow some from previously graduated students. 

Jostens, however, may not share the generous and inclusive spirit. The “Guardian Pack” is the first package one sees when shopping for 2026 graduation products at the IBW Jostens store. It costs $288.75 and contains many products beyond the cap and gown. It is advertised as the most popular package. 

This October, at a mandatory IBW senior meeting, a representative from Jostens promoted the package to all IBW seniors and passed out envelopes containing samples of the products offered in the package.

In the Lincoln High School Jostens store, the “Cardinal package” is in the same place on the website as the Guardian package, costs the same amount and is also advertised as the most popular package. In the McDaniel High School store, the “Lion package” is marketed as the most popular package. It contains the same products as the Guardian and Cardinal packages but costs $11 more. 

Is it likely that these packages may be pushed not because they are the most popular, but because they are the most profitable? For the extra $233.75 beyond the cap, gown and tassel, buyers receive a zipper pull, an embroidered hoodie, a “Sustainable Graphic T-Shirt” and paper products such as graduation announcements and envelopes with accessories.

One product that may be found in other schools’ Jostens stores, but not in the IBW store, is a yearbook. The IBW yearbook program used to use Jostens, but doesn’t anymore because they are “not a company that prioritizes customers,” focusing rather on money, says yearbook teacher and manager, Keith Higbee.

Higbee says that Jostens “sucks in different roles to try to monopolize stuff in a school.” It’s not the first time Jostens has been accused of that sort of corporate foul play.

In 1998, Taylor Publishing won $25.5 million in a lawsuit against Jostens, alleging that they used predatory marketing tactics. However, in 1999, the case was overturned when a judge found that these tactics did not cause a significant undercutting of sales for Taylor. 

But in 2014, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) took action against Jostens, preventing them from merging with American Achievement Corporation (ACC), another retailer of graduation goods. The FTC stated that they “approved an administrative complaint, alleging that a combined Jostens/American Achievement Corp—” would control an unduly high percentage of the high school and college rings markets.”

The FTC’s definition of an official monopoly is complex and involves a corporation using “exclusionary or predatory acts.” Jostens may not have a national monopoly on all graduation products, but for students whose only option for graduation products is a single corporate source, it might feel like it. While at IBW, it’s not the only option, it’s still doing its best to capitalize as much as possible.