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How Do I Officially Verify My Enrollment?

Written by Sally Rubenstone | May 20, 2009

Question: How do I find verification that I attend the college that I do?

Verification of Enrollment is most commonly required in order to get a student loan. In a perfect world, a picture on your Facebook page showing you and your friends sunbathing outside your dorm or cheering at a football game with your face painted in your college colors should be enough to prove that you are indeed a student at the school you claim to attend. :-) In the real world, however, things are rarely this simple ... or this amusing .However, if you do a search for "Verification of Enrollment" on your college's Web site, you may find information about how to go about procuring such a form from your school.

Here are a couple actual examples of such sites:

http://www.montgomerycollege.edu/admissions/Records/VerificationofStudent.htm

http://www.la.edu/pages/1418.asp

If you've already tried that approach but you struck out, then you should contact the Office of the Registrar at your college to request the form. They should be able to give you one... possibly for a very small fee or most likely for free.

The registrar will probably want this request in writing (or in person). Expect to provide the registrar with:

-Your printed name and signature

-Your Social Security Number

-Dates of attendance, date of anticipated graduation, etc.

-The names and addresses of recipients

-The number of copies required

-Your daytime phone number and email address

You can also check to see if your college belongs toThe National Student Clearinghouse.

If your school's name is on this list, you can probably obtain verification right from the Web site.

Some lenders or other individuals and organizations may accept a less formal verification ... e.g., a copy of your most recent grades or course schedule, a copy of your student I.D., or any other important-looking document, like a receipt of tuition bill, that has your name on it.

However, obtaining an official form is typically a very straightforward process, so your best bet is to check the school Web site for instructions, and then contact the Office of the Registrar if you don't find anything on the Web to guide you.

Sally Rubenstone

Sally Rubenstone knows the competitive and often convoluted college admission process inside out: From the first time the topic of college comes up at the dinner table until the last duffel bag is unloaded on a dorm room floor. She is the co-author of Panicked Parents' Guide to College Admissions; The Transfer Student's Guide to Changing Colleges and The International Student's Guide to Going to College in America. Sally has appeared on NBC's Today program and has been quoted in countless publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Weekend, USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek, People and Seventeen. Sally has viewed the admissions world from many angles: As a Smith College admission counselor for 15 years, an independent college counselor serving students from a wide range of backgrounds and the author of College Confidential's "Ask the Dean" column. She also taught language arts, social studies, study skills and test preparation in 10 schools, including American international schools in London, Paris, Geneva, Athens and Tel Aviv. As senior advisor to College Confidential since 2002, Sally has helped hundreds of students and parents navigate the college admissions maze. In 2008, she co-founded College Karma, a private college consulting firm, with her College Confidential colleague Dave Berry, and she continues to serve as a College Confidential advisor. Sally and her husband, Chris Petrides, became first-time parents in 1997 at the ripe-old age of 45. So Sally was nearly an official senior citizen when her son Jack began the college selection process, and when she was finally able to practice what she had preached for more than three decades.