Employers routinely verify college degrees, especially for roles requiring specific educational credentials or professional licensing. This process confirms the authenticity of qualifications and ensures new hires meet job requirements. Verification is typically outsourced to specialized third-party screening agencies that streamline the check for organizations.
The Primary Methods of Degree Verification
Confirming an applicant’s educational history relies primarily on two methods: leveraging centralized databases or making direct contact with the educational institution. Third-party screening services, hired by the employer, manage this verification workflow and have established access to official academic records.
A major resource used by these screening companies is the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC). This non-profit organization maintains a database of student enrollment and degree information submitted by thousands of U.S. colleges and universities. Accessed through its DegreeVerify program, the NSC allows for near-instantaneous verification of a candidate’s degree and attendance details, speeding up the time it takes for an employer to confirm claims.
If a school does not participate in the NSC or if a specialized degree, like a medical certification, is required, the screening service or HR department contacts the institution’s registrar’s office directly. For specialized fields, such as medicine, employers may use specific industry verification services, like CertiFACTS Online, to confirm board certification status. The employer must first obtain a signed authorization release from the candidate to comply with privacy regulations before any official records are accessed.
Specific Academic Information Employers Confirm
Degree verification confirms the following data points listed by the applicant:
- The name of the degree-granting institution.
- The specific type of degree earned.
- The major or field of study.
- The dates of attendance and graduation.
Verifiers also confirm the institution’s accreditation status to ensure the credential is from a legitimate, recognized educational provider and not a diploma mill.
The screening process focuses on validating the information presented on the application, checking for discrepancies against the school’s official records. In most cases, specific academic details like a candidate’s Grade Point Average (GPA) or a complete list of coursework are not verified. Exceptions occur only when the role is highly specialized, such as a position in academia, finance, or certain government jobs where a minimum GPA is an explicit requirement.
Why Employers Invest in Verification
Employers verify degrees to address organizational priorities and mitigate risk. Confirming educational claims is a necessary step in protecting the company from liability associated with negligent hiring. Hiring an unqualified person for a role demanding specific expertise can lead to poor performance, costly errors, or even threats to public safety in regulated industries.
For companies in regulated sectors, such as healthcare, finance, or engineering, verifying a degree is often a matter of compliance with federal, state, or industry mandates. These rules require that employees hold specific, verified credentials before they can legally perform certain duties. The verification process also serves to uphold organizational integrity by identifying individuals who have misrepresented their qualifications.
Common Verification Challenges and Delays
While third-party services have streamlined the process, several legitimate hurdles can slow down or complicate verification. One frequent challenge is when a candidate’s educational institution has closed or merged, making it difficult to locate the centralized repository for old academic records. Institutions relying on manual, paper-based record-keeping systems also introduce delays, as requests must be processed by hand rather than through an automated database search.
Verifying degrees earned at foreign universities adds complexity, requiring credential evaluation services to translate and assess the degree’s equivalency in the hiring country. Differences in academic calendars, varying data privacy laws, and language barriers can prolong international verifications. Administrative discrepancies, such as a candidate changing their legal name since graduation, sometimes require extra steps to match application information to the school’s records.
The Serious Consequences of Falsifying Credentials
Falsifying educational credentials on a job application carries serious, long-term consequences. If deception is discovered during the background check phase, the immediate consequence is typically the rescission of the job offer, even if conditional. The employer has no obligation to proceed with hiring a candidate found to have lied, regardless of their professional experience or suitability for the role.
If the individual is hired and the lie is discovered later, sometimes years into their employment, the outcome is usually immediate termination. Being fired for dishonesty results in reputational damage that spreads across an industry, making it difficult to secure future employment. If the position requires a professional license, such as for a nurse or financial advisor, the discovery of falsified academic credentials can lead to the revocation of that license and potential professional penalties.
When falsification involves a fraudulent diploma or certificate from a diploma mill, consequences can extend to legal action. Defrauded employers may pursue civil lawsuits for damages. In some jurisdictions, the use of forged documents can be considered criminal fraud, potentially leading to criminal charges and permanently damaging a career trajectory and financial stability.