Lost your Degree? A Checklist for Requesting an Official Replacement
If your diploma has been lost, start by reaching out to the registrar or student records office at your school. Visit the official site to learn how to request a replacement diploma, read about the identification and payment requirements, and then follow the school’s approved process to submit your request. If the institution is no longer open, you will need to find out who currently has the records. A commercial novelty copy is not a replacement for an official academic document.
Finding out your diploma is missing is surprisingly annoying. Maybe it got lost in a move, maybe it water damaged, maybe it just never made it back in its frame. Luckily, you don’t lose the qualification you got if you lose the paper. The task is to find the right documentation at the right place.
1. Find out what you really need
Before you pay for another diploma, ask yourself why you want it? There is a difference between replacing something on your wall and meeting application deadline.
Instead, an employer, university or licensing organization may request a transcript or direct degree verification. Find out what paper it will take and how that paper must arrive. This little check can keep you from ordering the wrong thing.
2. Find the Right Office
Go to the official website of your institution and search for “replacement diploma“, “duplicate diploma” or “registrar.” For a high school, contact the school office or district records office.
Look carefully around the campus and school. Some of the larger universities have separate instructions for different programs. For instance, the University of Michigan’s Rackham Graduate School refers alumni to the registrar for replacement diplomas and official transcripts.
Make sure the links from the university to the ordering service itself if an ordering service takes you off the university site. You should be able to trace the request back to the institution before you enter personal details or pay.
3. Collect Your Information Before Applying
Once everything is ready, filling out the form is much easier. Use this checklist but only provide sensitive information when the school requests it through its approved process of buying replica diploma.
Your name as it appeared on graduation.
Your current name if it has changed.
Your qualification, program and year graduated
Your student number if you still have one.
Present e-mail and delivery addresses.
Any identification or other documents specifically requested.
Completed application and payment are due.
Can’t remember your student number? Don’t worry. Ask at the records office if they can find your record using other information. If you want a different name on the replacement, see the name-change procedure. Changing your mailing address does not automatically change the name on your academic record.
4. Confirm Requirements, Cost and Timing
Please read current instructions before submitting. Requirements vary, so don’t assume that every school will require a notarized statement, police report or return of a damaged original.
Replacement fee, delivery charges and available shipping locations. Ask if quoted turnaround includes production, shipping or both. No faster postage will get the diploma print any sooner.
Check address format and tracking options for overseas delivery. If another organization requires authentication or translation, find out from that organization what it requires before ordering additional services.
5. Submit and Save Confirmation
Keep the receipt, request number and a copy of the details you submitted. ” Please record the anticipated date of completion and the office’s preferred method of checking progress.
Imagine, for example, that a graduate finds out a week before an application deadline that the diploma is missing. The graduate asks whether an official transcript would do, rather than assuming a printed replacement will turn up in time, and checks its delivery options. Then we can separately proceed with the diploma request.
Common Questions - What if my school is shut?
Search for the official closure notice that lists the custodian of records. You can contact a successor institution, school district or education authority to help locate the records. Inquire about documents availability. Just because you have transcripts, doesn’t mean replacement diplomas will be granted.
Will the replacement be identical to my original?
And ask before ordering. Your original diploma may differ in current designs, signatures or replacement markings.
Can I request a replacement years after I graduate?
Even if you graduated decades ago, call the records office. Where and when you studied and ask about archived records and the replacement process.
Can ND-Center provide an official replacement?
No. Commercial novelty or display copies from ND-Center are not official academic records and cannot be used to verify a qualification. If you need an official replacement, contact the registrar at your institution or the provider your institution has authorized. If you are looking for a fake diploma or a replacement diploma to keep your original safe contact ND-Center.