What's on a College Transcript? A Field-by-Field Breakdown

A college transcript looks like a wall of numbers and abbreviations. It's actually a tightly structured document that follows conventions set by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO). Here's every section, decoded.

Header: Student identification

• Legal name as recorded by the registrar (not your preferred name).
• Date of birth — used to disambiguate students with the same name.
• Student ID number — the school's internal identifier.
• Date of issue — when this specific transcript was generated.

Degree information

If you've graduated, the transcript shows the degree awarded (e.g., "Bachelor of Arts"), the major, any minors, the date the degree was conferred, and any honors (cum laude, magna cum laude, summa cum laude). If your degree is still in progress, this section says "Degree in progress" or is omitted entirely.

The course history (the main body)

Each row represents one course. The columns vary by school but almost always include:

• Term — e.g., "Fall 2024".
• Course code — department and number, like ENG 101 or CHEM 240.
• Course title — the catalog title, often abbreviated.
• Credit hours attempted — how many credits the course was worth.
• Credit hours earned — credits awarded based on your grade.
• Grade — letter grade, P/NP, W, I, etc.
• Quality points — credit hours × grade point value (used to compute GPA).

Grade modes you'll see

• A–F (or A+ to F) — standard letter grades.
• P / NP — pass / no pass. Doesn't affect GPA.
• W — withdrawal. No GPA impact, but appears on the transcript.
• I — incomplete. Usually converts to a letter grade or F if not finished within a deadline.
• IP — in progress.
• AU — audit. Appears on transcript but earns no credit.
• R — repeated course (paired with grade-replacement notation).

Term summary

After each term's courses, the transcript shows term GPA, cumulative GPA, total credit hours attempted/earned, and academic standing (good standing, dean's list, probation, suspension).

Transfer credit section

Credits accepted from other institutions appear here, usually grouped by sending school. Transfer courses typically show the credit hours awarded but no grade — most US institutions don't fold transfer GPA into your home institution GPA.

Test credit and AP/IB

Credit awarded for AP, IB, CLEP, or departmental exams appears in its own section. These show as credit-bearing entries with no grade.

The legend / key

The back page (or footer) contains the school's grading scale, credit-hour conventions (semester vs quarter), accreditation statement, and a code of definitions for non-letter grades. This page is what tells a graduate program or evaluator how to interpret a B+ at your school.

Authentication elements

• Registrar's signature — printed and sometimes handwritten on paper transcripts.
• School seal — embossed or printed.
• Security paper — chemically reactive, with watermarks and microprinting.
• Digital signature on PDFs — visible in Adobe Reader as a blue ribbon. If the ribbon shows the file was modified, the transcript is no longer official.