A duplicate diploma request form is the document you submit to your university’s registrar to get an official reprint of your degree certificate. Each school uses its own version, but the pattern is the same everywhere: gather your academic details, complete the form, upload or attach a photo ID, pay a processing fee, and wait for the reprint. Most schools charge between $20 and $50 for the diploma itself, with shipping added on, and the whole process usually runs three to six weeks.
What You’ll Need to Have Ready
Pull these together before you open the form. Missing information is the main reason requests stall.
- Your full legal name as it appeared on the original diploma, matching your university records at graduation.
- Your student ID number. Some schools still accept a Social Security number as a fallback, though many have phased that out.
- The specific degree you earned (for example, Bachelor of Science) and your major.
- Your graduation date — the month and year the degree was conferred, which can differ from the ceremony date by a few weeks.
- The current mailing address where you want the diploma sent, and a phone number and email in case the registrar needs to reach you.
- A valid government-issued photo ID, such as a driver’s license or passport. Federal privacy law requires schools to use reasonable methods to authenticate the identity of anyone requesting education records, which is why registrars ask for ID before releasing a reprint. A scan uploaded to the school’s portal, or a copy mailed with a paper form, satisfies this at most institutions.1eCFR. 34 CFR 99.31 – Under What Conditions Is Prior Consent Not Required
Where to Get the Form
Go to your university registrar’s website and search for “replacement diploma” or “duplicate diploma.” The link is usually buried a few layers deep under a graduation or alumni section rather than sitting on the registrar’s homepage. Some schools run an online portal where you fill everything out and pay in one sitting; others provide a downloadable PDF you print, complete by hand, and mail back.
If you can’t find anything, call the registrar directly. Smaller or older schools sometimes handle these requests informally through email or a written letter instead of a standardized form. Either way, the registrar is the right office. Not the alumni association, not the dean’s office, and not the department you graduated from.
Completing the Form
The fields are straightforward once your information is in front of you. Transfer each detail exactly as it appears in your records. A graduation year that’s off by one, or a middle name spelled differently than the school has it filed, will bounce the request back.
The field people stumble on is the reason for the request. Schools ask why you need a new copy, with options like loss, damage, theft, or legal name change. Pick the one that applies and keep any explanation brief and factual.
Some schools require a signed statement, sometimes notarized, declaring that the original diploma was lost or destroyed and hasn’t been transferred to anyone else. This affidavit protects the school against issuing a duplicate alongside a still-circulating original. If notarization is required, any notary public will do — banks, UPS stores, and shipping centers commonly offer the service, usually for under $15. Bring your photo ID.
Before you submit, read every field once more. Inconsistent dates, misspelled names, or a degree listed incorrectly are the top causes of a bounced request.
If Your Name Has Changed
To have the replacement printed in your current legal name, you have to update your name in the university’s student information system before or alongside the diploma request. Schools require legal documentation to make the change: a marriage certificate, divorce decree, or court order.
Submit a copy of the document with whatever name-change form your registrar uses. Some schools handle the update and the diploma reprint in a single submission; others require the name change to be processed first, with the diploma ordered afterward. Confirm the sequence with your registrar so you don’t end up with a reprint carrying the old name.
Submitting and Paying
How you submit depends on what the school offers. Online portals are the fastest route: upload your ID, fill the fields, pay by card, and get a confirmation number immediately. Paper forms go by mail or in person. If you mail yours, use a tracked service.
Fees generally fall in the $20 to $50 range for the diploma itself, with shipping added on top. International delivery and expedited options cost more. Payment methods differ by school. Online portals usually take credit or debit cards; paper submissions may require a money order or cashier’s check. Confirm the exact amount and accepted payment methods before you send anything, because an incorrect payment stalls the whole request.
One thing catches people off guard: an outstanding financial hold on your student account blocks the request entirely. Unpaid tuition, a library fine, a parking ticket from years ago — any of it will stop the registrar from processing the diploma until the balance is cleared. If your request seems stuck for no obvious reason, ask whether a hold is the cause.
How Long It Takes
Plan on three to six weeks from the date your complete request and payment are received. During peak periods like graduation season, the wait can stretch longer. Standard shipping is usually included in the fee or available for a small charge through tracked mail. Expedited shipping speeds up transit but not the printing itself.
Most registrars send an email confirmation when the diploma ships. If you haven’t heard anything after six weeks, follow up directly rather than waiting it out.
Why Requests Get Delayed
The requests that fail tend to fail for the same handful of reasons:
- A financial hold on the student account — the most common surprise.
- Mismatched information, such as a graduation date off by one semester or a misspelled name.
- A missing ID copy or notarized affidavit the school required.
- Wrong payment amount, including forgetting to add the shipping charge.
- A name-change request submitted without the legal documentation to back it up.
The simplest way to avoid all of these is a short call to the registrar before you submit. Two minutes on the phone confirms the current fee, the required documents, and whether a hold exists on your account.
If Your School Has Closed
Getting a reprint from a school that no longer exists is harder but not always impossible. When a college closes, its student records are supposed to be transferred to a custodian: sometimes another institution that absorbed the school, sometimes a state higher education agency, sometimes a third-party records service.
Start with the U.S. Department of Education’s closed school resources, which include searchable data on closed postsecondary institutions and information about where records were sent. Your state’s higher education board is another resource, since many state agencies take custody of records from schools that closed within their jurisdiction. The National Student Clearinghouse may also have enrollment and degree data on file if the school reported to them.2National Student Clearinghouse. Education Verifications
Be ready for the possibility that a physical reprint can’t be produced. A custodian holding the records may be able to issue a degree verification letter or certified transcript, but reprinting a diploma with the closed school’s name and seal is a separate matter and often isn’t available.
If You Need It for Use Abroad
If the replacement will be used in another country for employment, further study, or professional licensing, it will likely need to be authenticated. For countries in the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention, you need an apostille certificate from the Secretary of State in the state where the university is located, usually after notarization.3HCCH. Convention of 5 October 1961 – Status Table Apostille fees are generally around $20 per document, varying by state. For countries outside the Convention, full legalization is required instead, which adds federal-level certification through the U.S. Department of State and authentication by the destination country’s embassy or consulate.4U.S. Department of State. Office of Authentications Full legalization takes longer and costs more, so build in extra time.
A Faster Alternative Worth Checking First
A growing number of universities now issue certified electronic diplomas. These are encrypted PDFs with a unique verification code that employers or licensing agencies can check online. For employer background checks and similar purposes, a verifiable digital credential often serves the same function as a paper reprint and arrives in a fraction of the time. The National Student Clearinghouse also provides degree verification services that many employers accept as proof of graduation, which may remove the need for a physical duplicate entirely.2National Student Clearinghouse. Education Verifications
Digital credentials won’t help if you need a framed diploma on the wall or a physical document for an apostille. But if your real goal is to prove the degree, check what your school offers digitally before paying for a paper reprint you may not need.