Many employers do check your degree. In an HR.com survey sponsored by the Professional Background Screening Association, 95 percent of organizations with at least one U.S. location said they conduct some type of employment background screening, and 64 percent of those organizations said education verification is one of the elements included in it.
Checking is also easy. Most U.S. colleges have handed third-party verification to the National Student Clearinghouse, a nonprofit whose participating institutions enroll 97 percent of currently enrolled U.S. postsecondary students and award 96 percent of U.S. four-year degrees. An employer or screening company can confirm a degree from that database for $19.95 plus any school surcharge, without calling anyone. The sections below cover how often employers check, what each method returns, how GED and high school records work, and what the law allows.
Do companies check your degree?
Yes, often enough that assuming otherwise is a poor bet. Two separate questions sit behind it. The first is whether an employer can verify a degree, and for an accredited U.S. school the answer is almost always yes. The second is whether a particular employer will, which turns on the role, the employer and whether the job posting names a degree as a requirement.
- They can verify it easily, because the school has usually handed that job to a verification service.
- They are more likely to check when the degree is central to the role, when the job is federal or licensed, or when something on the resume looks inconsistent.
Myth 1. Employers Don’t Verify Degrees
A common belief is that employers rarely take the time to verify a candidate’s degree, especially for entry-level positions, and that listing a degree on a resume is enough because no one will check it.
Fact:
Background screening is close to universal among U.S. employers, and education is one of its standard components. The 2021 HR.com and PBSA report put screening of some kind at 95 percent among organizations with a U.S. location, with education verification included by 64 percent of them. An earlier report in the same series, based on answers from 2,301 HR professionals, found 96 percent of employers running one or more types of employment background screening.
How often do employers check degrees?
The surveys give a range instead of a single rate. In the 2019 HR.com report for what was then the National Association of Professional Background Screeners, 28 percent of employers said they ran education verification on all candidates, 24 percent on some candidates, and 41 percent on none. Two years later, asked which elements were part of their screening at all, 64 percent of organizations with U.S. locations named education verification. Read together, somewhere between half and two thirds of employers verify education for at least some hires, and how often employers verify education depends heavily on the job.
Employers are most likely to verify a degree in these situations.
- The job posting names a specific degree as a requirement, for example a BS in Nursing or a JD.
- The role is federal. OPM tells agencies they must ensure applicants’ education meets its criteria, and makes it the applicant’s responsibility to supply the documentation.
- The field is licensed, such as healthcare, teaching, engineering or law. The 2021 survey found professional license verification in 60 percent of screening programs at organizations with U.S. locations.
- Something on the resume looks inconsistent, such as a timeline gap, an unfamiliar school name or dates that do not fit together.
Timing matters as well. Most U.S. organizations wait until after a conditional job offer to screen, so a degree check often lands between the offer and the start date. For small employers and some entry-level roles, a degree may never be checked at all. Because a database lookup costs about twenty dollars and returns in seconds, though, betting on being missed is weak planning.
Myth 2. All Employers Use the Same Verification Process
Some people assume every company verifies credentials the same way, either by calling the institution or by using one degree verification service.
Fact:
Methods differ, and the school usually decides which one an employer may use. Large universities rarely answer employer calls at all. UC Berkeley says it has contracted with the Clearinghouse to verify attendance and degrees for all employers and other third parties, and UCLA tells third parties such as employers that they must obtain verifications from the Clearinghouse.
How do employers verify college degrees and education?
Four routes cover almost every check. Here is what each one returns and how long it takes.
| Method | What employers do | What it verifies | Typical timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direct contact with the school | HR or a screening company contacts the registrar or records office. Many large schools decline and redirect the request to their verification vendor. | Degree title and date awarded, terms enrolled, begin and end dates, and major, the fields UC Berkeley lists on an official verification. | Days to weeks, and only where the school still answers third-party requests itself. |
| Asking the candidate for documents | The employer asks for a copy of the diploma, an unofficial transcript from the student portal, or a sealed official transcript sent by the school. | Institution, degree title and graduation date, plus courses and grades when a transcript is supplied. | Same day for a portal download. Days to weeks for a sealed transcript. |
| Third-party background check service | A consumer reporting agency runs the check under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which means written notice, the candidate’s written permission, and a copy of the report before any adverse decision. | Whether the degree exists, whether the school is accredited, and whether the record matches the resume. | Minutes where the record sits in a participating database, longer where a person has to pull it by hand. |
| Clearinghouse and other degree databases | The employer or screening firm queries DegreeVerify, which most U.S. colleges use to answer third-party requests. | That the person received one or more degrees from, or attended, a postsecondary institution. | Instant. Degrees and attendance cost $19.95 per verification plus any school surcharge, current enrollment $4.95. |
GED and high school records travel a different path, usually through a school district or a state education agency, and are covered further down.
Can employers look up your college degree without asking you?
Partly. Under FERPA, degrees, honors and awards received, dates of attendance and major field of study all sit on the federal list of directory information, which a school may release once it has given students public notice and a chance to opt out. That is the legal basis on which a verification service can confirm a degree. When the check runs through a background screening company instead, the Fair Credit Reporting Act applies, and the employer has to give written notice in a stand-alone document and get the candidate’s written permission first.
Do background checks show college degrees?
They do when education verification is part of the package, and for most U.S. employers it is. A report prepared by a screening company is a consumer report, so the FCRA rules bite. The Federal Trade Commission tells employers to notify the applicant in writing in a stand-alone document, get written permission, certify compliance to the screening company, and, before taking adverse action, hand over a copy of the report and a summary of FCRA rights. That last step is where a candidate sees what the report says about their education and can dispute an error. A separate guide covers the wider education background check.
Do jobs ask to see your degree?
Many do, especially where the posting carries an education requirement. Employers commonly ask for one of three documents.
- A copy of the diploma for the file
- An unofficial transcript downloaded from the student portal
- A sealed official transcript sent by the college directly
Federal hiring works this way by rule. OPM makes it the applicant’s responsibility to show that the educational provisions have been met, and accepts an official transcript, a statement from the registrar or dean, or equivalent documentation. Handing over documents does not always end the matter, because employers often run their own check as well. Two related guides cover what employers accept as evidence of education and how to request official transcripts.
Myth 3. It’s Difficult for Employers to Verify a GED or High School Diploma
Job seekers with a GED or a high school diploma often assume those credentials are hard to check, especially when the diploma is decades old.
Fact:
Both are checkable, along a different route than a college degree. Here is how each one works.
- GED verification. The state, and not the testing company, issues the credential, and each state runs its own records process. GED.com routes a transcript or diploma request by the state where the test was taken. A third party receives the document as a secure electronic file with an authentication page attached.
- High school diploma verification. Employers contact the district or the state education agency, or use a verification service. The Clearinghouse also sells high school diploma verifications at $19.95, and its participating high schools enroll 91 percent of U.S. secondary students. Where a school has closed, the state education department normally holds the records.
So the answer to how jobs know if you graduated high school is one of those two routes, plus whatever document the candidate supplies. Neither takes long, and both work decades after the fact, because the record sits with an agency rather than with the school office. High school diploma verification is covered in more detail separately.
Myth 4. Employers Don’t Care About Fake Degrees
Another assumption is that a fabricated degree either goes unnoticed or is treated as a minor matter once found.
Fact:
Accreditation is one of the first things a verification service looks at, and federal law has a name for the schools that sell credentials without the study. A diploma mill is defined in statute as an entity that offers degrees for a fee while requiring little or no actual education, and that lacks accreditation from a recognized agency. The Department of Education publishes the accredited list in its Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs, which carries the institutions and programs accredited by an agency the Secretary of Education recognizes.
Consequences are sharpest in federal hiring. The Declaration for Federal Employment that every federal applicant signs warns that a false statement may be grounds for not hiring you, or for firing you after you begin work, and that you may be punished by a fine or imprisonment under 18 U.S.C. 1001, which carries up to five years. Private employers are not bound by that statute, and a misstatement discovered there usually ends the application or the job instead. What happens when someone lies about graduating high school is covered separately.
Three things tend to expose a fabricated credential.
- An unaccredited issuer. A school missing from the federal accreditation database stands out at once, and for a federal job the degree has to come from a body the Secretary of Education recognizes.
- No record in the database. Where the school participates in a verification service and the name is absent, the check comes back negative.
- Dates that conflict. A completion window shorter than the program allows, or study dates that clash with an employment history, prompts a closer look.
Myth 5. Employers Verify All Degrees the Same Way
A related belief is that a GED, an associate degree and a doctorate are all verified in the same place.
Fact:
The record holder changes with the credential, even when the method looks similar.
- GED and high school diplomas. Held by a state agency or a school district, with the Clearinghouse covering participating high schools.
- Associate and bachelor’s degrees. Almost always answered from a college verification database, because most U.S. institutions have handed third-party requests to the Clearinghouse.
- Master’s and doctoral degrees. Answered the same way. A DegreeVerify response confirms the degrees a person received from an institution whatever the level. Extra scrutiny at senior level comes from licensing boards and reference checks. The degree lookup itself does not change.
The level of a degree changes who holds the record and how much else gets checked alongside it. It does not change how a database confirms the degree. Credentials earned outside the United States are the real exception, and that route is set out in international degree verification.
How Long Does the Verification Process Take?
Speed depends on the route the employer takes and on whether the school has posted the degree yet. A database lookup is immediate. A request that a person has to answer, at a district office or a state records unit, runs from a few days to a few weeks.
Recent graduates hit a delay of a different kind. A degree cannot be verified before the school records it, and UCLA tells third parties that degree verification for the most recent term becomes available about eight weeks after the term ends. Until then, an unofficial transcript showing completed coursework is the document to hand over. The timings are set out in full in how long degree verification takes.
What to Expect When an Employer Checks Your Degree
Degree verification is now a routine hiring step instead of an exception, and the record an employer reads is the school’s own. Accurate dates and the exact degree title on a resume therefore count for more than the appearance of any document a candidate can produce, because the check compares the claim against the registrar’s file. A degree that was never awarded has nothing to match against, whatever paperwork accompanies it.
ValidGrad sells replica diplomas, transcripts and certificates as novelty items for display, such as a framed wall copy or a keepsake standing in for a document that was lost. A replica is not a credential and has no place in a verification process. Using one to claim a qualification, or to answer an employer’s verification request, is prohibited by the ValidGrad terms. Anyone who needs a document an employer will act on should go back to the school, which is covered in replacing a lost diploma.
Frequently Asked Questions About Degree Verification
Do companies really check your degree?
Many do. In the 2021 HR.com and PBSA survey, 64 percent of organizations with U.S. locations said education verification was part of their background screening, and 95 percent ran screening of some kind.
How often do employers verify education?
Survey answers range from about half to about two thirds. The 2019 report found 28 percent verifying education for all candidates and 24 percent for some, while 41 percent did not verify it at all.
How do employers verify college degrees?
Usually through the National Student Clearinghouse, which most U.S. colleges have appointed to answer third-party requests, or through a background screening company that queries the same records. Some employers also ask the candidate for a diploma copy or a transcript.
Do employers ask to see your degree?
Many do, especially where the posting states an education requirement. A diploma copy, an unofficial transcript or a sealed official transcript are the usual requests, and federal agencies require documentation by rule.
When do jobs check if you have a degree?
Mostly after a conditional job offer. In the 2021 survey, 73 percent of organizations with U.S. locations said that is when they typically run background screening, which puts the degree check between the offer and the start date.
How do jobs know if you graduated high school?
Through the district or the state education agency that holds the record, through a verification service covering participating high schools, or from the diploma or transcript the candidate supplies. A GED is issued by the state, and GED.com routes record requests by state.
Does a background check show education?
A background check shows whatever the screening company was asked to verify. Where education verification is included, the report gives the degree, the school and the dates. Under the FCRA the candidate must receive a copy of the report before any adverse decision and can dispute an error.
Can employers verify a college degree without your permission?
A school may release degrees, dates of attendance and major as FERPA directory information, subject to a student opt-out. Where the check runs through a background screening company, the FCRA requires written notice and the candidate’s written permission first.
Sources
Every figure above was taken from the pages below. Checked September 14, 2026.
- National Student Clearinghouse, Education Verifications. Coverage of 97 percent of currently enrolled U.S. postsecondary students and 96 percent of U.S. four-year degrees.
- National Student Clearinghouse, Verify. What DegreeVerify confirms, and the fees for degrees and attendance, current enrollment and high school diplomas.
- National Student Clearinghouse, About. Nonprofit status, and the 91 percent of secondary students enrolled in participating high schools.
- UC Berkeley Office of the Registrar. The university contracts verification to the Clearinghouse, and the fields an official verification contains.
- UCLA Registrar, third-party verification. Third parties must use the Clearinghouse, and degrees become verifiable about eight weeks after a term ends.
- Federal Trade Commission, Background Checks. Employer duties under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, including stand-alone written notice, written permission and the pre-adverse-action copy of the report.
- 15 U.S.C. 1681b(b). The statutory text behind those duties.
- 34 CFR 99.3. FERPA directory information covers degrees, honors and awards received, dates of attendance and major field of study.
- U.S. Office of Personnel Management, qualification policies. Agencies must confirm applicants meet the education criteria, applicants supply the documentation, and accreditation must come from a body the Secretary of Education recognizes.
- Optional Form 306, Declaration for Federal Employment. The false statement warning and its reference to 18 U.S.C. 1001.
- 20 U.S.C. 1003. The federal definition of a diploma mill.
- U.S. Department of Education, Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs. The accreditation list employers and screening firms check.
- HR.com and PBSA, Background Screening, Trends in the U.S. and Abroad, August 2021. The 95 percent screening rate, 64 percent education verification, 60 percent professional license verification and 73 percent conditional-offer timing.
- HR.com and NAPBS, How Human Resources Professionals View and Use Background Screening in Employment, May 2019. A survey of 2,301 HR professionals, 96 percent running some screening, and education verification at 28 percent for all candidates and 24 percent for some.
- GED Testing Service, transcripts. Record requests are routed by the state where the test was taken.