What is an educational qualifications check?

How do employers verify educational qualifications?

Employers verify educational qualifications by engaging FCRA-compliant consumer reporting agencies like GCheck that contact educational institutions directly or access centralized verification databases to confirm academic credentials claimed by candidates. Before any verification occurs, the Fair Credit Reporting Act requires employers to provide candidates with standalone written disclosure that education verification will be conducted and obtain explicit signed authorization—without this consent, no verification can legally proceed. Once authorization is secured, the verification service initiates contact through multiple channels: accessing centralized databases like the National Student Clearinghouse, calling registrar offices directly, submitting written verification requests via email or secure online portals, or requesting official transcripts when detailed course information is required. The verification specialist requests dates of attendance, degree type and level earned, major and minor fields, graduation date, and institutional accreditation status, documenting responses from authorized school representatives or official databases.

According to industry research, only approximately 49% of American employers undertake some form of education verification, creating opportunities for diploma mill degrees and false credentials to slip through undetected. Turnaround times typically range from 2-5 business days depending on institutional responsiveness, though National Student Clearinghouse verifications complete within 24 hours while manual outreach to smaller schools or international institutions may require 7-10 days. The verification service compiles findings into a comprehensive report documenting what was confirmed, what couldn’t be verified, any discrepancies such as unearned degrees or attendance at diploma mills, and accreditation status warnings. GCheck’s education verification platform streamlines this process through automated database access, persistent institutional outreach protocols, diploma mill detection capabilities, transparent candidate communication, and FCRA-compliant workflows that maintain audit-ready documentation.

Why is it important to verify educational qualifications?

Verifying educational qualifications is critically important because it protects organizations from negligent hiring liability when unqualified candidates lack required knowledge and skills, ensures compliance with industry regulations mandating specific credentials, prevents dangerous situations where fake degrees enable unqualified individuals to perform safety-sensitive work, and maintains organizational credibility. According to research tracking resume fraud, approximately 29.6% of job candidates admit to lying about college degrees, while an estimated 500,000 Americans currently use fake degrees according to Congressional testimony—with experts estimating that more than 50% of individuals claiming to have earned a PhD may have purchased fake degrees from diploma mills. The proliferation of diploma mills has created a billion-dollar fraudulent industry that sold over one million fake diplomas according to FBI investigations, with diploma mills like the Pakistani network Axact selling approximately 75,000 fake diplomas in the United States alone before authorities seized 2.2 million blank diplomas during a 2015 raid.

Education verification catches dangerous credential fraud before it causes harm, including instances where fake medical degrees enabled unqualified individuals to practice medicine, fake nursing degrees from Florida diploma mills sold 7,600 phony credentials to people who never completed clinical instruction, and fake engineering degrees appeared among government contractors. High-profile cases demonstrate education fraud occurs at all levels—including Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson who falsely claimed a computer science degree, U.S. Olympic Committee president Sandra Balwin who resigned after admitting false credentials, and numerous executives caught with diploma mill credentials. Organizations suffer productivity losses when unqualified employees cannot perform required duties, face legal liability when credential fraud leads to harm, experience reputational damage when fake degree scandals become public, and waste recruitment resources on candidates who should never have been hired. GCheck’s protective education verification enables thorough academic credential checks while maintaining transparent candidate communication and audit-ready documentation that demonstrates fair compliance practices aligned with both safety requirements and ethical hiring standards.

Which educational qualifications can be verified?

Educational qualifications that can be verified include high school diplomas and GED certificates, associate degrees from community colleges, bachelor’s degrees from four-year universities, master’s degrees and graduate certificates, doctoral degrees, professional certifications and licenses, vocational and trade school certificates, and continuing education credentials—though verification capabilities vary based on institution type, record-keeping practices, and whether schools participate in centralized verification databases. Traditional accredited colleges and universities in the United States typically provide comprehensive verification through direct registrar contact or National Student Clearinghouse participation, confirming degree type, major, graduation date, and attendance dates. High school diploma verification proves more challenging since many secondary schools maintain limited records, particularly for older graduates, and some schools have closed creating gaps in available records. International education presents unique challenges including language barriers, different educational systems, varying record-keeping standards, data privacy regulations like GDPR restricting information sharing, and difficulty confirming legitimacy of international institutions.

According to diploma mill research, over 1,000 estimated diploma mills operate in the United States alone with more than 2,600 worldwide, making it essential to verify not just whether a candidate attended a claimed institution but whether that institution holds legitimate accreditation from nationally recognized accrediting bodies rather than fake accreditation from fraudulent mills. Education verification confirms institutional accreditation status by checking with the U.S. Department of Education’s database of recognized accrediting agencies, state authorization lists, and specialized accreditation bodies. Online degrees from legitimate accredited institutions can be verified through the same processes as traditional degrees, though verification services must distinguish between authentic programs and diploma mill websites designed to appear legitimate. Professional licenses and certifications can often be verified through licensing boards and professional associations that maintain public verification databases. GCheck’s comprehensive education verification platform addresses these diverse credential types through multi-source verification strategies including direct institutional contact, National Student Clearinghouse access, international verification capabilities, diploma mill detection, professional license verification through licensing boards, and transparent candidate communication.

What challenges might you face during education verification?

Education verification faces significant challenges including unresponsive educational institutions that delay hiring timelines, schools that limit disclosed information due to privacy laws, diploma mills that provide fake verification confirming fraudulent degrees, international education requiring verification across language barriers, closed or defunct institutions where records no longer exist, name changes from marriage that don’t match enrollment records, and sophisticated fake credentials that appear authentic but come from unaccredited schools. According to research, only approximately 34% of employers check educational qualifications despite 25% of people inflating their educational achievements, creating verification gaps that allow fake degrees to slip through undetected. Diploma mills deliberately create detection obstacles by using names similar to legitimate institutions, maintaining professional-looking websites, employing staff who falsely verify degrees when employers call, operating across multiple jurisdictions to avoid prosecution, and obtaining fake accreditation from fraudulent accreditation mills.

The Government Accountability Office reports that identifying degrees from unaccredited schools is limited because diploma mills use names similar to accredited schools, employee records may contain incomplete or misspelled school names, and federal investigations found 463 federal employees received degrees from alleged diploma mills with 28 senior-level employees having known diploma mill degrees. International verification presents obstacles including time zone differences, language barriers, varying documentation standards, data privacy regulations, lack of centralized databases, and difficulty confirming institutional legitimacy. Female candidates create verification delays when applying using married names but graduating under maiden names. Small private colleges and trade schools often lack dedicated verification staff, creating extended response times. Technology enables increasingly sophisticated fake transcripts and diplomas that appear authentic without direct institutional verification. GCheck’s education verification platform addresses these challenges through persistent multi-channel institutional outreach, National Student Clearinghouse access, diploma mill detection databases, international verification capabilities, accreditation verification, transparent candidate communication, and FCRA-compliant workflows that maximize accuracy despite inherent industry challenges.