What to Do When Your University Has Closed or Your Academic Records Are Lost

You are not the first applicant this has happened to

Universities close, merge, or lose records to fire, flood, war, or mismanagement often enough that credential evaluators and US admissions offices have standard procedures for it. The path is slower and needs more documentation than a normal transcript request, but a closed school does not automatically block your US application.

Start with official archives, not the school itself

When a university closes, many countries require its academic records to transfer to a government body: the ministry of education, a national archive, a regional university that absorbed the students, or the original accrediting or licensing authority. Check with your home country's ministry of education first, since this is usually the fastest official route to a certified copy of your transcript even after your specific school no longer exists. Many keep archived records for closed institutions, especially former public universities.

If the school merged into another institution rather than closing outright, contact that institution's registrar directly. Many merged universities retain and can certify records from the schools they absorbed.

Ask your evaluator about alternative documentation

NACES-member agencies handle this situation regularly and publish specific policies for exactly this situation. Contact the agency before you order a standard evaluation and explain that your school is closed or your records are inaccessible. Ask which of the following they accept in place of an original transcript:

• A certified copy from a ministry of education or national archive.

• Records held by the institution's former accrediting or licensing body.

• A notarized affidavit describing your enrollment, dates attended, and coursework, sometimes required from you plus a witness such as a former classmate or instructor.

• Secondary evidence such as diploma copies, exam registration records, or professional licensing board results that reference your degree.

• Employer records confirming a job that required your specific degree as a condition of hiring.

Evaluators generally want more than one piece of secondary evidence when a full transcript is unavailable, since a single affidavit alone is weak proof.

If no documentation is available at all

In some cases, war, natural disaster, or a government collapse destroys records at every level: the school, the ministry, and the accreditor alike. World Education Services runs the WES Gateway Program for refugees and other forcibly displaced students from a defined list of countries, evaluating diploma and transcript copies you still have instead of requiring full originals from the school. Ask the NACES-member agency you are considering whether it runs a similar review before assuming a US application is out of reach.

What US admissions offices expect from you

Tell your target university's international admissions office about the situation as soon as you know your school is closed or your records are incomplete, rather than waiting until a document request stalls your file. Most schools have handled this before and tell you exactly what substitute evidence their office and their preferred evaluation agency accept.

Admissions staff generally want to see the same thing an evaluator wants: proof that you made a genuine effort through official channels before turning to substitute documentation. A short written summary of what you tried, attached to your application, saves the office from having to ask.

Keep a written record of every attempt to obtain original documents: emails to the ministry, any reference numbers issued, and dates. Evaluators and admissions offices want to see that you tried the standard channels before they approve an alternative documentation review.

Timeline expectations

Alternative documentation review takes longer than a standard evaluation. It involves manual verification of secondary evidence rather than a straightforward request to an active school. Start this process as early as possible in your application timeline, as soon as you know which university closed or that your records are unavailable, rather than waiting until close to an application deadline.

Practical steps

• Contact your home country's ministry of education for a certified archive copy first.

• If a merged institution absorbed your school, request records from its current registrar.

• Contact a NACES-member evaluator early and ask specifically about their alternative documentation policy.

• Gather secondary evidence (diploma copies, exam records, employer letters) even before an evaluator asks for it.

• Tell your target US school's international admissions office about the situation as soon as you know about it.

• Save a written timeline of every request you send and every response you get, so you have a record if a document request later comes back for more proof.