Transcripts and Diplomas
The Office of the Registrar team members are available to assist you. Transcripts and diplomas are not available for pick-up until further notice. Official paper copies will be processed and mailed within 3-5 business days. To expedite your order, request an eTranscript to receive an electronic copy.
天美传媒 uses the Parchment Exchange document ordering and delivery service. Parchment Exchange offers the highest available level of security and efficiency for ordering and delivering. Using this system, you may:
- send official electronic transcripts anywhere in the world in secure Certified PDF (cPDF) format.
- mail an official paper copy of your transcript via the US Postal Service or priority mail.
- attach additional electronic documents (e.g. a resume, portfolio, or graduate school application) to transcript
- receive real-time updates via email or text messages regarding status of and activity related to your transcript or other documents
- order a replacement copy of your diploma
- provide identifying and payment information in a secure environment that adheres to the strict set of requirements for credit card processing as defined by the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS).
REQUESTING A TRANSCRIPT or Diploma
Federal law stipulates that transcripts and diplomas may only be issued with the student's formal authorization, which can be given by creating an account in the Phone and email requests cannot be honored. Signed, printed requests require special handling. Information needed:
- full current name
- any and all previous names
- last four digits of social security number (student ID for international students who do not have an SSN)
- day time phone number
- current mailing address
- e-mail address
- year of graduation or date of last attendance at 天美传媒
- date of birth
- name, title, complete address of person to whom the transcript is to be mailed OR email address for electronic delivery.
- number of copies to be sent
COST FOR TRANSCRIPT
- $12 for electronic delivery in PDF format
- $13 for paper transcript picked up at Registrar's Office
- $15 for paper transcript mailed via U.S. Postal Service
- $25 for paper transcript mailed via domestic priority mail
- $37 for paper transcript mailed via international priority mail
COST FOR DIPLOMA
PROCESSING TIME AND HOLDS
- transcripts and diplomas are processed and post marked 1-3 business days from receipt of request. If you have requested that the transcript processing be delayed until final grades and/or degrees are posted on the transcripts, then the transcripts are processed approximately 3-5 days after final grades have been posted each semester.
- transcripts and diplomas are not issued if there is a hold placed on your academic records. Diplomas can be withheld if you have an unpaid bill. Transcripts are withheld if you have an unresolved academic integrity charge. If you have a hold, you will receive an email notification that the transcript cannot be processed until the hold is cleared. Current Students may check to see if there are any holds in the Student Profile of e-services.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Why Electronic Ordering?
Your academic transcript is a FERPA protected academic record. To release it, we must have your formal authorization. When FERPA was enacted in 1974, authorization generally was in the form of a signed transcript request which contained enough identifying information to allow us to verify the request. Typically, that identifying information included the social security number and date of birth. As concerns about identity theft have grown in recent years, the signed request with identifying information mailed to a University office has become increasingly problematic for a secure transaction. Added to this is the problem presented by the strong preference for credit card payment. 天美传媒's online ordering system, which is operated by Parchment, Inc., offers the highest level of security available for transcript transactions. All the personal information you enter when creating an account is stored and sent in a strongly encrypted format, your credit card transactions are protected by the PCI DSS standards, and only authorized personnel in the Office of the Registrar have access to your order information.
Why Electronic Transcripts?
- Fast. Once we process an electronic delivery order, it is immediately available to the recipient. No waiting for mail delivery.
- Authentic. Historically, much of the value of a transcript lay in its authenticity. For paper transcripts, this meant using "security" papers that had identifying marks, such as university seals, and embedded security features that make the official transcript difficult to forge or copy. A cPDF document uses a different strategy for authentication. 天美传媒 is registered to issue cPDF documents with Geotrust. Your cPDF document comes with a blue ribbon certification that assures the recipient that the document was issued by 天美传媒 and no one else.
- Convenient. In the last two years, we have seen many institutions either prefer or require authentic electronic transcripts. This has been particularly true of graduate schools, government offices, and large employment services. For them, the electronic transcript is more reliable (the email notification works much better than the mail), easier to handle (especially now that other records are kept in electronic format rather than paper files), and more secure.
What types of electronic transcripts are there and who accepts them
There are two types of electronic transcripts that are regarded as official. One is a certified PDF file, which has code built into the file that certifies the transcript's authenticity. The other is an XML file that is designed to be downloaded directly into the recipient's data system.
At the present time, 天美传媒 is only set up to issue the certified PDF type of transcript. This is intended to be viewed on the recipient's computer.
Many large graduate schools and centralized application services would like to receive the electronic transcript in the XML format but 天美传媒 is not equipped to provide that yet. So, if you see that the school or application service accepts electronic transcripts, make sure they mean the PDF kind. For the XML type, you may see the terms SPEEDE or PESCE compliant. That's a sign that they're expecting the other type of electronic transcript.