I am looking for suggestion on what can be done when a high school charges $$ for transcript…
I am not going to post the exact amount but my son’s high school is going to charge more than the ACT and SAT combined per transcript after the students request more than x number of transcripts where x is less than 10…
It is a public high school… is it even legal?
Perhaps it is a way to discourage applying to large numbers of colleges, particularly those that may require additional work for the high school (transcripts and recommendations)? Some public schools are overworked and underfunded in the college application support functions, a disadvantage to college applicants who attend such schools.
Do the state universities in your state use a self-reported academic record (to be verified with transcripts upon matriculation), or take one set of transcripts to share among all of them?
Yes, it’s legal. My local district does it.
our public HS charged a few bucks per transcript. Not much, but yes, the school charged.
but isn’t it the student’s right? in particular, for students chasing merit
I wasn’t aware that there was an amendment to the Constitution guaranteeing free transcripts.
Some high school’s provide a number of transcripts free then charge for those students applying to an excessive number of schools.
But I think they are making money out of it…the cost per transcript is going to be more than ACT and SAT combined per college. Not a few bucks. What does free public education mean?
Is 10 excessive? the school begins charging after a number less than 10.
Are you saying the school is charging $50 per transcript after 10 have been issued?
I think that is very smart of the schools to do that. I suspect my first kid had 10 or so but in retrospect, but there were at least 3 schools that were really pointless, and mea culpa as the parent.
My kid’s public magnet wouldn’t even let you apply to that many.
I assume that it takes up staff time and resources. So, they are willing to do a certain number for free, for everyone. If a student wants to apply to more, then the fee helps to offset the time and resources. I think it makes sense.
Our school charges $5 (might be $10) per transcript. Son’s only applying to one school but he is applying to several outside scholarships that require transcripts:-(
Ours was 2$ per transcript starting with the first one.
My kid’s private school charged 6$ for every transcript. None were free. I think $50 is outrageous (if that’s the cost), but I also learned the lesson that applying to 14 colleges was definitely way too stressful on us and probably a lot of work for the school (although they do like to brag about the number of schools that their students are admitted to). Our next kid is not going to apply to more than 10, probably more like 5-7.
The financial struggles for many school districts coupled with the increasing demand for paperwork make this more and more common (I assume). There are districts where kids pay to play on a sports team, so this isn’t the worst problem ever (considering there is a number of free ones available to the OP).
This is an issue that should be covered by a system like Naviance. More productively, I would suggest that colleges require transcripts only once. Let people self-report, and if the final transcript doesn’t support their acceptance, withdraw the offer. Mulitple submissions to schools are inefficient for everyone.
I can’t remember how the common app works, it the transcript there for all common app schools? (what I learned from the first kid also, was the common app ain’t so common). My local 4 yr does not even use the common app.
Ok…so the op is saying that the school is charging the cost of the SAT and ACT combined…so between $85-$149 PER extra transcript ($85 if no writing, $149 if writing included)
Sorry…I do not believe that.
@speechless17 …is that what you mean?
Why does your child need so any transcripts that need to be printed, signed, sealed with the school seal , hand inserted into envelopes which needs to be addressed to various places, sealed , stamped on the back, postage added and mailed out?
Yes, I purposely put down each step because it wan easily become a labor intensive process even if you only have 100 kids on your caseload.
If your school uses Naviance most times it is one upload,
One upload if your child is on the common app
One upload if the college uses send.edu
Then repeat for mid-year reports, outside scholarships etc.
S’s HS charges 7 dollars per transcript.
Not to sound snarky, but are many high schools actually still mailing transcripts and sealing envelopes? Sincerely curious…I thought it was all an upload nowadays - press a button and done. Our HS charges $2 per transcript and nothing for all the other reports sent along with it (like midyear, recs etc), but it is all automated. Transcripts sent same day as requested (24 hr turn around).