The university of northern Colorado is authorized to grant degrees and diplomas to the students who have completed the full course of instruction in said university and who have been recommended for such diplomas by the faculty of said university. Any such diploma, when signed by the president of said university, the commissioner of education, and the president and secretary of the board of trustees for the university of northern Colorado, shall be evidence that the receiver thereof is a graduate of said university and is entitled to all the honors and privileges of a graduate.