To fill out the Dean’s Certification form, complete the student section with your legal name, student ID, dates of attendance, and degree information exactly as they appear in your university’s records, sign the FERPA release that authorizes the school to disclose your academic and disciplinary history, decide whether to waive your right to inspect the completed form, and deliver it to the office your school designates (usually the Dean of Students or registrar). The school fills in the rest and sends it directly to the institution that requested it.
Where the Form Comes From
The form is issued by the school you’re applying to, not by your former university. Look for it on the admissions website of the graduate or professional program alongside the other supplemental materials. Some programs email it after you submit your initial application; others post it for download.1Brooklyn Law School. Dean’s Certification Form
If you attended more than one college, you need a separate certification completed for each. The Brooklyn Law School form, for example, directs applicants to give it “to the Dean or other administrative officer in charge of student records at each of the undergraduate or graduate institutions that has awarded or is expected to award you any degree.”1Brooklyn Law School. Dean’s Certification Form Summer programs, study abroad hosts, and schools you transferred away from can each require their own.
One note for law school applicants: Dean’s Certifications don’t go through LSAC’s Credential Assembly Service. They travel directly between your former school and the law school requesting them, so you handle each one individually.2New York University College of Arts & Science. Dean’s Certification
What Goes in the Student Section
Your part of the form is short, but every entry needs to match what the registrar has on file. Expect to provide:
- Full legal name as it appears in the university’s records, which may differ from your current legal name if you changed it after enrollment.
- Your university-assigned student ID number. If you don’t remember it, the registrar at your former school can look it up.
- Dates of attendance, from the term you started through the term you graduated or withdrew.
- Degree awarded or expected, and the year of conferral.1Brooklyn Law School. Dean’s Certification Form
- The exact mailing address or email of the admissions office at the requesting institution.
Verify your dates and degree against your transcript before signing. A mismatch sends the form back to the registrar’s queue while staff reconcile the discrepancy, and you lose days you may not have.
The Two FERPA Signatures
The form asks for two separate privacy decisions under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, and applicants routinely confuse them.
Consent to Release Records
Federal law bars your university from sharing personally identifiable information from your education records without a signed, dated, written consent that specifies which records, for what purpose, and to whom.3eCFR. 34 CFR 99.30 – Under What Conditions Is Prior Consent Required to Disclose Information The signature block on the certification is that consent. Without it, the school cannot process the form at all.
Waiver of Your Right to Inspect
A separate checkbox asks whether you waive your right to see the completed form after the school official fills it out. This option comes from a FERPA provision allowing students to give up their right to inspect confidential statements related to admission, employment, or honors.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 20 USC 1232g – Family Educational and Privacy Rights Choosing “waive” means you won’t see the school’s answers or comments before they reach the admissions committee. Choosing “do not waive” preserves your right to review the document. Schools cannot require a waiver as a condition of processing the form. Some applicants waive anyway because they believe it signals confidence in their record; others decline so they can see what was sent.
What the School Fills in After You Hand It Off
Once your section is complete, a campus official reviews your records and completes the institutional portion. The certification covers two things.
On the academic side, the official confirms whether you graduated or are on track to graduate, verifies your dates of attendance, and notes any academic probation or suspension.5Baylor University. Dean Certification Forms
On the conduct side, the form asks whether you were ever censured, placed on disciplinary probation, suspended, or expelled for non-academic reasons, and whether any charges are pending.1Brooklyn Law School. Dean’s Certification Form Most schools report only matters where you were found responsible. Baylor, for instance, discloses only conduct code and honor code findings of responsibility, though the university reserves the right to disclose pending investigations when warranted.5Baylor University. Dean Certification Forms
Different offices often handle different parts. The Dean of Students or student conduct office addresses disciplinary history; the registrar handles dates of attendance, GPA, and degree conferral.6University of Illinois Chicago. Dean’s Certification Some schools coordinate internally so you submit once; at others you route the form between offices yourself. Ask the Dean of Students office before you hand anything in.
If You Have Something on Your Record
A disciplinary record doesn’t automatically close doors, but how you handle it matters. Answer every question truthfully. Failing to disclose a known record can lead to consequences worse than the original violation, and for law applicants it resurfaces during the bar’s character and fitness review.7Tufts University. Dean’s Certifications or Disciplinary/Academic History Requests
Many conduct offices attach context when a record exists. Stanford’s Office of Community Standards, for example, includes the case outcome, sanctions imposed, an explanation of the relevant policies, and instructions for the receiving institution to contact the student if more detail is needed.8Dean of Students. Certification Forms If your school doesn’t do this automatically, ask whether you can submit your own statement of explanation alongside the certification.
If you think the record contains an error, contact the student conduct office before the form goes out. Universities typically allow appeals based on procedural errors, new evidence, or disproportionate sanctions, but the internal deadlines are short. Disciplinary records are generally retained for about ten years, while suspension and expulsion records may be kept permanently.9Washington University in St. Louis. Student Conduct Record Retention If you’ve been out of school long enough that older records may have been purged, confirm with the office rather than assuming a clean report.
One obligation that continues after submission: if new disciplinary action is taken against you after you’ve already applied, you’re expected to update the schools you applied to.7Tufts University. Dean’s Certifications or Disciplinary/Academic History Requests Omitting a late incident is treated the same as hiding an older one.
Submitting the Form, Timing, and Fees
Deliver the completed form to the office your school designates. Some universities accept submissions through an online portal or email; others want a physical form mailed in or dropped off. If the requesting school supplied its own form for your university to fill out, attach it to your school’s internal request so staff know exactly what to complete.7Tufts University. Dean’s Certifications or Disciplinary/Academic History Requests
Processing takes anywhere from about a week to two weeks. UCI quotes five to seven business days during normal periods and longer at peak times.10UCI Office of Academic Integrity & Student Conduct. Dean’s Certification UCLA estimates ten to fourteen business days.11Office of the Dean of Students. Dean’s Certification The University of Rochester also reports five to seven business days.12University of Rochester. Dean’s Certification Submit at least a month before the receiving school’s deadline, especially in fall when every other applicant is making the same request.8Dean of Students. Certification Forms Late-December university closures can stretch things further.
Fees vary. UCLA charges $5.00 per certification, billed to the student’s campus account.11Office of the Dean of Students. Dean’s Certification Stanford charges nothing.8Dean of Students. Certification Forms Expect either a small per-form charge or no charge at all, depending on the school. Keep your submission confirmation; if a receiving institution later says the form never arrived, you’ll want proof that you made the deadline on your end.