Losing or damaging a college diploma can be frustrating under normal circumstances. But what happens when the college or university that issued your diploma has closed permanently?
You may still have several options for obtaining records or creating a replacement for personal or display purposes.
At DiplomasUSA.com, we've specialized in custom college diplomas, transcripts, and related documents since 2004. Here are some places to start if your former school is no longer operating.
First, Find Out Who Maintains the School's Records
When a college closes, its student records don't necessarily disappear.
Depending on the school and location, academic records may be transferred to another college, a state education agency, a state archives office, or another designated records custodian.
If you need an official transcript or official verification of your degree, locating that records custodian should be your first step.
Try searching for the former school's name along with terms such as “transcript records,” “closed school records,” or “records custodian.”
What if You Only Need a Replacement Diploma?
Sometimes the original diploma has been lost, damaged during a move, destroyed by water or fire, or simply deteriorated after years in storage.
If the former school no longer provides replacement diplomas, you may want a custom replacement for personal, commemorative, novelty, theatrical, or display purposes.
The more information you still have about the original diploma, the easier it is to reproduce its general appearance.
Useful information can include the graduate's name, college or university name, degree or field of study, graduation date, approximate diploma dimensions, and photographs or scans of the original document.
Old graduation photographs can sometimes be helpful when the original diploma itself is no longer available.
Check Your Old Records
Before assuming everything has been lost, look through old files and family records.
You may still have graduation announcements, transcripts, photographs, commencement programs, diploma covers, envelopes, or photocopies containing useful information about your original documents.
Even small details can help establish how an older diploma was formatted and presented.
Official Records and Display Replacements Are Different
It's important to understand the distinction between an official academic record and a replacement created for personal or display purposes.
If an employer, licensing organization, government agency, or another institution requires official verification of your education, that verification should come from the appropriate school records custodian or authorized agency.
A custom replacement diploma does not replace official academic verification.
Creating a Custom Replacement
At Diplomas USA, we've produced more than 25,000 precision-made documents since 2004.
Our production process considers details such as typography, alignment, spacing, document dimensions, paper selection, and overall presentation. Our production manager, Mark, reviews each layout profile before printing and performs a final inspection before shipment.
We can also produce coordinated college diploma, transcript, and envelope sets for appropriate replacement, novelty, commemorative, theatrical, display, and personal uses.
Don't Assume a Closed College Means You're Out of Options
If your college or university has closed, start by determining whether another organization maintains its official academic records.
If your goal is replacing a lost or damaged diploma for personal or display purposes, gather as much information about the original as possible.
For custom college diplomas, transcripts, envelopes, and replacement document sets, visit DiplomasUSA.com to learn more about the options available.