Release of Diploma and Official Transcripts

Policy

A student who is delinquent in meeting their financial obligations to the University will not be issued an academic transcript, degree, diploma, or other evidence of course completion until such delinquency has been satisfied in full.

In addition,any amount owed to the University (including amounts owed upon completion of a student’s program or withdrawal from the University) must be paid in full before a student’s diploma or official transcript will be released.

There are three exceptions to this policy, detailed below.

Exception – Partial Transcripts by Payment Period

Upon request by any student (active, graduate, or withdrawn), the University will provide an official transcript that includes all the credit or clock hours related to “payment periods”, if any, (1) in which the student received federal financial aid (Title IV) funds and (2) for which all institutional charges are paid in full, or covered by a payment plan with the University that satisfies the conditions below, at the time the request is made.

For most FNU programs, a “payment period” refers to a semester (Fall, Spring or Summer), but may be a shorter period depending on a student’s program.  When determining whether institutional charges for a payment period have been paid in full, the University considers charges to be paid sequentially as a student's account is credited, where the oldest charges are the first to be paid.

An institutional payment plan to cover any remaining balance meets the requirements for this exception only if (1) the payment plan is in writing and signed by the University and student (or other person agreeing to be responsible, in the University’s sole discretion), (2) required monthly payments are current under such plan, and (3) at least the first payment has been made under the plan.

Exception – Employers and Other Institutions

If any student (active, graduate, or withdrawn) has a remaining balance and has agreed to a written institutional payment plan to cover such debt, and the student is current on the monthly payments under such plan, and has made payment consistently for three (3) months preceding (or, for payment plans that are less than three months old, in the University’s reasonable discretion) any transcript request, the University will provide directly to prospective employers or other institutions copies of the transcript upon the student’s request.

Exception – Title IV Processing Errors

The University will not withhold official transcripts from or take any other negative action against a student related to a balance owed by the student that resulted from an error in the University’s administration of the federal financial aid (Title IV) programs, or any fraud or misconduct by the institution or its personnel.

Procedures – File Closure and Payment Processing

Any outstanding holds (financial or non-financial) on a student’s account must be resolved before a diploma or official transcript is released, subject to the above exceptions. The University has 14 days after the student graduates, drops, completes, or achieves any other “permanent out status” to process and close the student’s file. All transcript requests, including expedited transcript requests, will be processed after the student’s file has been processed and closed.

If a student pays their account balance with a check, it may take up to 21 days for the hold on their account to clear. The University will not issue an academic transcript, degree, diploma, or other evidence of course completion until their account is cleared.