my school is returning all reports and records of my awards because they are closing down… just wondering how often colleges check awards, tests, and transcripts because I now hold my own records and do not know how long I need this for… I am a sophomore in college
I can’t imagine any school would ever investigate a student unless they were given cause to do so. As a sophomore, I’d be shocked to hear of it.
I’m sure if you did something REALLY offensive, the smart people at your college could find someone to speak with from your school who might have access to some of the records. It would have to be pretty bad.
What are you hiding?
Just kidding (unless you want to get it off your chest… it’ll be our secret).
I’m sorry to hear your school is closing. I’m not sure which records you’re referring to: college records, or high school records that are still in your admissions file, which is now being returned to you? If you’re a sophomore seeking to transfer to a new institution, you should not need high school records to do that at all – at your stage, transfer applications usually just require college records. If you’re talking about college records, then you should make sure you have a clearly labeled official copy of your transcript – keep several hard copies plus the original, plus pdfs. You’ll need that for sure, both for transfer applications and any applications to graduate or professional school after college. If you won’t have access to new copies ever again, then be careful with those records. (I don’t know how this would work – would the college that’s closing find some way to store records in a database or with a recordkeeping service for students who need them in the future? I have no idea.) Certainly keep any records of awards and standardized tests, but copies of those should be easier to request later. Even high school records, which I doubt you’ll need, can be requested from your high school. It’s just the official records that would normally be kept by the college that you need to worry about.
Do you mean that the college is closing down, or that the high school you attended previously is closing down?
Are you applying as a transfer student to another college that wants to see your high school records as well as your college records?
Is this a public school? If so, even if you have requested your records, they are required to maintain them for a pretty long while. I believe even a private school might have this obligation.
Check.
Colleges which merge or close typically have student records in a database maintained by the National Student Clearinghouse, which employers or anyone doing a background check can access (for a fee and you need to be a registered, legitimate user).
I’m not sure how long retention is for a HS which is closing, and the OP didn’t make it clear what he’s looking for.
But if it’s HS records, transfer everything the school releases to you onto a thumb drive, stick it in a drawer, and don’t think about it. It is highly unlikely that anyone will ever need any of the information, but you’ll know you have it, problem solved.
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