Many job applications will inquire about your education. You may have asked yourself if an employer would actually verify this information. The answer is yes: many employers verify applicants’ education and degree information.
This Guide outlines how Degree Verification works, as well as the timing and the implications of misrepresenting your educational history.
How Often Employers Verify Education
Across various sectors and levels of employment, verification rates differ. A recent survey conducted by the Professional Background Screening Association found that almost half (48%) of organizations check an applicant’s education for every position; additionally, 24% check the applicant’s education based on the specific role.
For higher-level jobs, there will be a greater degree of validation for those positions. For example, executive positions, healthcare jobs, and licensed professional jobs are subjected to validation rates close to 100%. In contrast, entry-level retail positions typically do not require education verification.
Larger corporations with full-time HR departments tend to verify their employees more consistently than smaller businesses, which often do not have the resources necessary for comprehensive background checks. This means that both startups and small businesses typically have fewer resources available to conduct extensive background checks on their employees than larger companies do.
When Verification Typically Happens
The majority of education checks happen after a candidate has received an offer of employment. Most offers are contingent on the applicant passing all required background checks. By doing this, both the employer and prospective employee are protected, and any duplication of background checks for candidates who will not be employed.
A lot of employers verify candidate information through interviews; however, regulated industries such as Health Care and Finance tend to do so prior to hiring. If a job requires specific degrees or licenses, most employers don’t offer the job until they verify the candidate’s credentials.
Background checks can occur after an employee has been working for an employer for some time. Some examples are when an employee is being promoted, moved from one department to another, or being audited by their employer. If an employee has falsified their credentials, they run the risk of being discovered over and over again, not just once.
How Employers Check Your Degree
Employers use a variety of ways to check for education. Employers typically call the schools, or schools maintain a registrar’s office that confirms dates of attendance, degrees obtained, and dates of graduation. Typically, this takes a few days.
The use of third-party verification services helps speed up the completion process. The National Student Clearinghouse maintains educational records for the vast majority of all accredited colleges within the United States. Employers can then use this database to verify whether someone has earned a degree with just a few clicks. Third-party educational verification services include Truework, Sterling, and GoodHire.
Here is what employers typically verify:
- Name of degree earned
- Major or field of study
- Graduation date
- Attendance dates
- Degree completion status
Many checks go beyond simple verification. The most significant of these checks is the transcripts. A transcript shows all coursework completed, including grades earned and honors or distinctions conferred upon degree completion. The level of detail in transcript verification can range from a full transcript to simply confirming the existence of a valid degree, depending on the employer’s needs and the position(s) to be filled.
What Employers Cannot Easily Verify
Some things are more difficult to verify, such as your consent to release your GPA and whether you actually received your degree from an accredited school or not. Some employers may request a transcript from the candidate directly instead of confirming an applicant’s education credentials through schools. Furthermore, in some instances, class ranking and exact honors can require additional support in documentation to verify.
Certain things about you can be hard to verify. For example, your GPA often requires your permission to release. Some companies might ask that you provide a transcript directly, rather than verifying your educational background through your schools. Additionally, in some cases, class rank and specific types of honors can sometimes require additional verification.
Some claims about you may be harder to verify. For example, you may have to give permission for someone to obtain your GPA. Alternatively, some employers request transcripts from you instead of verifying through schools. Additionally, class rankings and other honor classes may require more documentation to verify.
Verification of international degrees can be difficult. Different countries have different ways of keeping records at their schools. Some employers will accept a notarized translation of an applicant’s foreign credentials, but many others will require that the documents be evaluated by a company such as ECE or WES.
Diploma mills and unaccredited institutions make it difficult for verification purposes. It can be easy to find these records, but there may be less information for employers who verify candidates with legitimate credentials from an unknown or lesser-known college or university.
The Consequences of Lying About Education
There are severe ramifications associated with false claims about your education. If you are caught misrepresenting your education during the hiring process, you will lose the job offer. In general, an employer rescinds the offer immediately upon discovering a false claim after the completion of a background check.
Getting caught after hiring leads to termination from that organization. Most employment contracts contain waivers permitting employers to terminate employees for providing false information on applications. Even successful performance for several years does not guarantee protection against this type of termination, as there have been examples of high-profile employees losing their jobs after falsifying their educational backgrounds.
Additional consequences may apply to professional licenses. For instance, a health care worker, attorney, or engineer will lose their license if they misrepresent their credentials. In addition, if the individual is found to be practicing without proper credentials, they may face all future criminal charges.
Famous Cases of Degree Fraud
Multiple business leaders have suffered workplace penalties due to their documented misrepresentations of academics. After allegations surfaced in 2012 that he had overstated his educational qualifications by saying he had earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science, Yahoo! CEO Scott Thompson left the company. Additionally, in 2006, David Edmondson, the CEO of RadioShack, resigned due to inaccurate statements concerning his degree credentials.
These examples demonstrate that verification could happen at all stages of one’s career. The background check process for executives usually has more extensive investigative processes than for non-executives. Furthermore, because public figures are under increased media scrutiny, the additional risk associated with verification is amplified.
Industries With Strict Verification Practices
Verifications are among the top reasons why hospitals, clinics, and all forms of healthcare systems require so many verification points on every healthcare professional’s (HCP) degree/certification. Verification for patient safety is a primary reason for this documentation and or authorization. A 2020 peer-reviewed publication in the Journal of Medical Regulation indicates 3% of applications contained education inaccuracies.
Financial service companies conduct assessments of their clients’ documents. Regulated financial institutions (ie, Investments, Banks, and insurance) conduct background checks on individuals as part of compliance with regulatory requirements. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) mandates that all registered representatives conduct verification.
Other industries with high verification rates include:
- Education (teachers and administrators)
- Legal services
- Engineering
- Government and defense contractors
- Pharmaceutical companies
- Aviation
Verification is not a rare event, but rather common throughout many industries that have high levels of regulatory regulation or liability risk.
How to Prepare for Education Verification
Keeping your resume accurate will help avoid any issues down the line. Always list your degree(s) exactly as they are listed on your diploma, utilize the official institution name, and ensure that you provide the degree date accurately. If you did attend but did not earn a degree, that should also be indicated.
Be proactive in collecting your documents beforehand. Make sure to make copies of each diploma, transcript, and all certificates. Having these on hand when requested speeds up the verification process. Some employers will allow for an initial verification process to be performed based on documents you provide.
If you’re worried about your education history, raise these concerns head-on. You can indicate partially-finished degrees in an honest way. Attending college but not graduating has merit; anything you took toward your degree (courses) is still an example of an education. Honesty will be more successful than lying to people.
What If Your School Closed?
Schools can be merged, renamed, or cease operations altogether. If you wish to authenticate a credential that was awarded by a school that has since closed, there are additional steps to this process. The Department of Education keeps documentation indicating where records from closed schools were kept. The National Student Clearinghouse keeps these records as well.
Get a copy of your records while they are still easy to obtain. As soon as schools close, request copies of your official transcript from your school. Keep these copies in a secure location; you may need them for verification purposes if an employer uses a third-party service to check your records and they cannot find them in their database.
Sources
- Professional Background Screening Association: Employer verification survey (2022)
- National Student Clearinghouse: Education verification services (studentclearinghouse.org)
- U.S. Department of Education: Closed school records (www.ed.gov)
- Journal of Medical Regulation: Healthcare credential verification study (2020)
- Financial Industry Regulatory Authority: Registration requirements (www.finra.org)
