The reason for an institution resorting to holding back a student's records is, more often than not, financial. In such cases, release of documents is put on hold until the student fulfills his financial obligations to the college. Should the student fail to honor education loans or participate in exit counseling, his academic transcript, grade reports and even diploma can be used as leverage to oblige him to clear his deficiencies. Other valid reasons for the refusal of a transcript request include unpaid tuition fees and fines, as well as failure to reimburse the institution for overpayment on a grant.
The practice of withholding official academic documents is legal and complies strictly with FERPA’s provisions. Students who have been denied copies of their official transcripts are not denied access to unofficial ones. They may request a printed copy, but the copy given will not bear the registrar’s seal. This allows institutions to avoid FERPA violations while still making sure that the student cannot use those documents for employment, for applying for higher degrees or for transferring to another school. Also, FERPA does not prevent colleges from setting a limit of just one unofficial transcript per student, nor from including in the same document the reasons why the release of the official copy was put on hold.
In many states, exceptions to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) are placed on academic records. These exclusions prevent students with outstanding obligations from using a FOIA request to force the disclosure of their official transcript. Private colleges have automatic immunity, as FOIA does not apply to them. This, however, does not prevent public college students from filing constitutional challenges should their schools refuse them official copies of their transcript.
Three provisions of the Bankruptcy Code prevent colleges from withholding a student’s official transcript if he has filed for a bankruptcy petition or has fully discharged his outstanding debts. These three provisions are automatic stay, anti-discrimination and discharge injunction. Private colleges, however, are exempted from the anti-discrimination provision.