Lisa Nishimura, graduate of John Jay College at CUNY who previously had her transcript withheld
“Transcript withholding really impacts your ability to get employment,” said Nishimura, who is also a first-generation college graduate. “And if you want to transfer schools to finish your degree or go to graduate school, all of that is hindered if you can’t access your transcript. We call it the transcript trap.”
Nishimura, 24, is one of millions of students nationwide to have found herself in that trap.
According to an October 2020 report from Ithaka S+R, a research organization, roughly 6.6 million students across the country may have stranded credits. These are credits students have earned but cannot access because of their unpaid balance with a college that they once attended, a college holding their transcript as collateral. The report estimated there could be as much as $15 billion in unpaid balances to colleges and universities.
“In some cases, we’re talking about withholding transcripts for $25 or less,” said Dr. Edward Conroy, senior advisor in the education policy program at New America, a nonprofit research and policy advocacy organization. “Institutions use this as a collections tool, but it’s not very effective. We know only about 5% of balances ever get paid. So, there are a lot of potential downsides for students without a huge amount of upsides for institutions.”
With 25 colleges across New York City, CUNY is considered the nation’s largest urban public university. It awards each year about 55,000 degrees and serves around 275,000 students. Many CUNY students are from low-income households and are students of color.
But in August 2021, CUNY temporarily suspended its long-held policy that previously banned CUNY schools from releasing the official transcripts of students and graduates who owed the university unpaid tuition and fees.
