Reviewed September 2026 · Every requirement below comes from a registrar’s office, a federal form or agency, or the registrars’ professional association, checked September 13, 2026
An academic transcript is the school’s own official record of what a student studied and how they did. It lists courses by term, the grade and credit earned for each, the resulting grade point average, and any credential awarded. It is issued by the registrar’s office and not by the student, and it is the document institutions fall back on whenever a claim about education has to be checked. The University of Texas at Austin’s registrar calls its own version a “comprehensive record of your academic progress”, which is as good a one-line definition as exists. What goes on it is not improvised. Most US registrars work from the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers’ Academic Record and Transcript Guide, last updated in 2020, which covers the transcript key, the transcription of nontraditional work, transcript security and how to identify fraudulent transcripts.
That definition carries three practical consequences, and they explain most of what follows.
- The school owns it. A transcript is an education record under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which covers records “directly related to a student and maintained by an educational agency or institution”. The registrar releases it, and the student cannot.
- It is permanent. AACRAO’s retention schedule recommends that academic records be kept permanently, with no disposal date, while most surrounding paperwork is destroyed within one to five years of graduation.
- It is complete. The transcript carries the whole record, including withdrawals, repeats and failures. It is not a selection from it. A student cannot edit it, and neither can anyone else.
What an academic transcript contains
Contents vary by institution, but the blocks are standard. The University of Texas at Austin publishes its list, and it is representative of what a four-year US university puts on the page.
| Block | What it shows | Why a reader cares |
|---|---|---|
| Student identification | Legal name exactly as it appears on the university record, plus student number | The name must match the application or license file, and a change of name goes through the registrar, not the document |
| Coursework by semester | Every course attempted, term by term, with grade and credit | This is the substance, covering course rigour, sequence, and anything repeated or withdrawn |
| Transferred coursework | Credit accepted from other institutions | Shows what a receiving school already counted, and at what value |
| Credit earned by exam | AP, CLEP and similar credit | Explains credit that has no matching class on the record |
| Cumulative GPA | Grade point average for that institution’s coursework only | Each school computes its own, and there is no national GPA |
| Scholastic status | Academic standing, including probation or dismissal where the institution records it | Purdue, following AACRAO, keeps undergraduate academic warnings on the transcript permanently |
| Degrees earned and honors | Credential awarded, date conferred, distinctions | The line that answers “did this person actually graduate”. See what a final transcript is |
| Security features | Watermark security paper, the institution’s seal and the registrar’s signature on printed copies | These identify an official copy, and they are not what make the record true |
Two things are usually not on it. There is no narrative evaluation of the student’s character, and at most institutions no disciplinary record, which is kept in a separate file. A walkthrough of how these blocks are laid out at high school, college and trade school level is in what does a transcript look like.
Official versus unofficial
The difference is delivery and not design. An official transcript travels from the issuing school to the receiving institution through a channel that prevents alteration, such as a sealed envelope bearing the school’s name, or an electronic transfer between systems. An unofficial transcript is the same information, downloaded by the student, with no seal and no chain of custody. It is perfectly usable for planning, self-checking and many application stages. It is not usable as proof.
Plenty of institutions accept the unofficial version early and require the official one later. UC Berkeley’s Graduate Division tells applicants to “upload unofficial transcripts (ie, a scanned copy) from every post-secondary school that you have attended” at the application stage. The full picture of where each version is accepted is in unofficial transcripts: what they are and where they work. And because the transcript and the certificate answer different questions, be clear on the difference between a diploma and a transcript. The diploma announces a credential, and the transcript evidences the work behind it.
Who asks for an academic transcript, and when
The requester list is longer than most people expect, and the requirements differ sharply. What follows is sourced row by row.
| Requester | What they require | How it must arrive | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Undergraduate admission | The high school transcript, with the School Report | Submitted by the school counsellor and not the applicant, though some colleges also ask the student to self-report courses and grades | Common App |
| Transfer and transfer credit | An official transcript from every college attended, so coursework can be evaluated for credit | Registrar to registrar | UT Austin Admissions |
| Graduate school | Transcripts from every post-secondary school attended | Unofficial copies uploaded with the application at many programs, and official copies required to enroll | UC Berkeley Graduate Division |
| Employers | Usually degree verification instead of the transcript itself, though a minority still screen on GPA | Sent by the school on request, or verified through a third-party service | NACE Job Outlook 2024: 38.3% of employers screen by GPA, most looking for 3.0 or above |
| Professional licensing boards | Proof that education requirements were met, from the awarding institution | Directly from the school. New York’s Office of the Professions will not accept transcripts submitted by the applicant, and requires a sealed official envelope or an approved electronic transcript from the registrar | NYS Education Department, Office of the Professions |
| Federal security clearance | Every school attended in the last 10 years, plus any degree received more than 10 years ago, with a person who knew you there | Declared on Standard Form 86, and the investigation verifies it against school records | US Office of Personnel Management, SF-86 Section 12 |
| Immigration and foreign credentials | An official academic record, and foreign degrees normally need an equivalency evaluation | USCIS treats evaluations as advisory and makes the final determination itself, and the Department of Education refers people to NACES member evaluators | USCIS Policy Manual Vol. 6 Part E Ch. 9, and NACES |
College admission and financial aid
For first-year admission, the transcript is not something the applicant hands over. On the Common App, counsellors “share their perspective using the context of the entire graduating class” and “submit the School Report and transcripts”. The record arrives from the school, alongside the class profile that gives the grades meaning. The same document then does double duty for money. Merit scholarship committees read course rigour and GPA off it, and institutions check academic progress against it for continued aid. That is why a mid-year and final report are so often requested after an offer.
Employers and the job-application question
This page has long ranked for people asking whether jobs want transcripts, so here is the direct answer. Most employers verify the credential, meaning that a degree was awarded, and do not read a course list. Transcript requests concentrate in a few places, mainly entry-level hiring where there is little work history, roles with a statutory education requirement, government and defense roles, and graduate-scheme recruitment. Where GPA still matters, the numbers have moved. NACE’s Job Outlook 2024 survey found 38.3% of employers screening by GPA, with most of those looking for 3.0 or above, down from a large majority a few years earlier.
Two practical points follow. First, a transcript is sometimes accepted in place of a certificate when an employer wants proof of completion, and the conditions are set out in can you use a transcript instead of a diploma for a job. Second, the record is what it is. A weak GPA is not improved by editing a document. It is offset by work history, portfolio, certifications and references. For what the underlying credential tends to be worth in the labor market, the wage data is collected in salary by education level.
Licensing, clearances and immigration
Outside education and hiring, the transcript stops being a supporting document and becomes a gate. Licensing boards verify education directly with the school. New York’s Office of the Professions requires that evidence of each licensure requirement be sent to it by the institution where the requirement was met, in a sealed official envelope bearing the school’s name and address, or electronically from the registrar or a designated transcript service. Documents submitted by the applicant are not accepted. Federal security-clearance applicants list every school attended in the last 10 years on Standard Form 86, together with any degree earned before that, and name someone who knew them at each recent school. For degrees earned abroad, USCIS may consider an evaluation by an independent credentials evaluator, but treats it as “solely advisory in nature”, with the final determination resting with the adjudicating officer. The Department of Education refers people to the members of NACES, a credential-evaluation trade association founded in 1987 with 17 member organizations.
How long schools keep it
Effectively forever. AACRAO’s retention schedule marks academic records as Permanent, while placement test scores, admission applications and transfer credit evaluations are recommended for destruction five years after graduation or last attendance, and registration forms and grade reports after one year. Purdue’s registrar, applying the 2019 edition of the same AACRAO guidance, notes that records marked permanent “have no disposal date and should never be destroyed”.
The practical reading is that the school almost certainly still has the record, even decades later, and even if the campus has closed. Closed-institution records are normally transferred to a state agency or a successor institution. What can stop a request is not age but a hold. The detail, including what to do when a school has shut down or a balance is outstanding, is in how long colleges keep transcripts.
How to request one
Requests go to the registrar’s office, either directly or through the delivery service the school has contracted. Most US institutions route orders through the National Student Clearinghouse or Parchment, and so many university transcript pages are simply a link to one of them. Electronic delivery has become the default. The same platforms that made ordering a web form also made same-day PDF delivery normal, which is the real answer to the “future of transcripts” question that used to be treated as speculative. Expect a fee. UT Austin charges 20 US dollars per copy, payable at the time of the request, with transcripts released once payment clears. Fees at other institutions vary widely and a few charge nothing.
Three details save time. Order one copy per recipient, since an official transcript is consumed by the institution that receives it. Have the recipient’s exact address or electronic delivery details ready, because most services will not re-route after sending. And check for holds before ordering. Step-by-step instructions for both national platforms are in how to request official transcripts via Parchment or the National Student Clearinghouse, and the specifics for postgraduate applications are in degree transcripts and graduate school applications.
Replica transcripts from ValidGrad: what they are for
ValidGrad makes replica transcripts and diplomas as novelty items for display and personal use. Our transcript maker lays out courses, grades, credits and a GPA in a realistic transcript format, in high school, college, university and GED styles, for people who want a framed keepsake of their own record, a prop, or a stand-in while an official copy is on its way. Current options and pricing are shown on the product page.
What a replica is never for. A replica must never be used to claim a credential you do not hold, and never to answer a verification request from a college, an employer, a licensing board or a government agency. It creates no record at any school, and every requester listed above verifies with the institution rather than reading the paper. That use is prohibited by our Terms and Conditions. If you need an official record of coursework you actually completed, order it from the school.
Frequently asked questions
What is a transcript for a job?
It is the school’s official record of your coursework, used by an employer to confirm what you studied and whether you completed it. Employers ask for it most often in entry-level hiring, in roles with a legal education requirement, and in government positions. In many cases a degree verification is all they run, and the transcript is never requested at all.
Do employers ask for college transcripts?
Some do, but it is no longer the norm and grade screening has fallen sharply. NACE’s Job Outlook 2024 survey put the share of employers screening by GPA at 38.3%, most of them looking for 3.0 or above. Where a transcript is requested, it is normally after an offer or at the final stage, and the employer will want it from the school rather than from you.
How do I get an academic transcript from my school?
Through the registrar’s office, usually via the National Student Clearinghouse or Parchment, whichever the school has contracted. You will need your dates of attendance, the name you studied under, the recipient’s details and a payment method. UT Austin, for example, charges 20 US dollars per copy. Clear any hold on your account first, because a hold stops the release regardless of payment.
Does online coursework show up on a transcript?
Yes, and normally without being marked as online. Courses taken at an accredited institution are recorded like any other course, with the same credit and grade. AACRAO’s guide draws a “distinction between identifying the origin of the coursework (recommended) and identifying the mode of delivery (not recommended)”. The transcript should say where the credit came from, not how it was delivered. The federal SF-86 is one of the few places the distinction is asked about. It separates correspondence, distance, extension and online schools, and wants the address where the records are kept.
How long do schools keep transcripts?
Permanently, in almost all cases. AACRAO’s retention guidance classes academic records as permanent, with no disposal date, while the surrounding paperwork is scheduled for destruction after one to five years. Requests for very old records may take longer to process and may be handled by a state archive if the institution has closed.
Sources
- AACRAO, “Revisiting AACRAO’s Academic Record and Transcript Guide” (2020 update, covering the transcript key, self-audit checklist, nontraditional coursework and identifying fraud, with origin of coursework recommended and mode of delivery not recommended). aacrao.org
- AACRAO, Guide for Retention and Disposal of Student Records (academic records are permanent, with five-year and one-year schedules for supporting documents). PDF copy hosted by DYU
- Purdue University Registrar, record retention guidelines based on AACRAO Retention of Records (2019), where permanent records “should never be destroyed” and an undergraduate academic warning is retained on the transcript. purdue.edu
- US Department of Education, Student Privacy Policy Office, “What is an education record?” (34 CFR § 99.2, where transcripts and grades are education records). studentprivacy.ed.gov
- The University of Texas at Austin, Texas One Stop, “Official Transcripts”, covering what is included, watermark paper, seal and registrar’s signature, and the fee per copy. onestop.utexas.edu
- Common App, application guide for first-year students, where counsellors submit the School Report and transcripts alongside self-reported courses and grades. commonapp.org
- UC Berkeley Graduate Division, admissions requirements, on unofficial transcripts from every post-secondary school attended. grad.berkeley.edu
- National Association of Colleges and Employers, Job Outlook 2024, where 38.3% of employers screen by GPA and most look for 3.0+. naceweb.org (PDF)
- New York State Education Department, Office of the Professions, general licensing information, covering evidence sent directly from the institution, the sealed official envelope and accepted electronic transcripts. op.nysed.gov
- US Office of Personnel Management, Standard Form 86, Questionnaire for National Security Positions, Section 12, “Where You Went to School”. opm.gov (PDF)
- USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 6, Part E, Chapter 9, “Evaluation of Education Credentials”, on the official academic record and on evaluations that are “solely advisory in nature”. uscis.gov
- National Association of Credential Evaluation Services, Members, founded 1987 with 17 member organizations. naces.org