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Admitted Student Information

New Student Resources

Congratulations on your admission to the Graduate College at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign! 

We want to make sure you have all the resources you need for a great start to your first semester as an Illinois graduate student. Our Quick Guide provides you with essentials such as setting up your email, registering for classes, buying text books, and more. In addition, our GradMAP webpages will help you learn about University resources to help support your success.

Final Academic Credential Requirements

Your official Graduate College admission letter may have stated “to complete your admission, you must submit final, official credentials” along with list of the institutions from whom those credentials are needed. The information below provides additional information about how to submit these credentials and what specific documents are required. 

Note for University of Illinois Urbana Champaign Undergraduates: The Graduate College will obtain your official transcript for you. You do not need to request official UIUC transcripts to be mailed or emailed to our office.

Submission Options
  • Electronic Submission (Preferred Method)
    U.S. and International credentials should be sent electronically from the previous school whenever possible. Credentials should be sent to grad@illinois.edu and be sent from a verifiable email address. If your institution uses a system such as Parchment and you need to search for us, make sure that you select the GRADUATE option for our university. Some institutions will list University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with multiple options. It is important you select the graduate option which may appear as "graduate," "graduate admissions," or "graduate college."
     
  • Mail Submission
    If the institution does not offer an electronic service, students may have these credentials mailed to our address at 507 East Green St, Suite 101, Champaign, IL 61820. For students who wish to have their international credentials returned to them, they may include a pre-paid shipping label (UPS and FedEx only) and envelope, and we will be happy to send their credentials back to them.
     
  • In Person
    Walk-ins are accepted during business hours (9-12 and 1-4:30, Monday-Friday) for drop-and-go service. If longer advising time is needed regarding the academic credentials, we suggest that students schedule an appointment. We can make true copies of original international documents for our records where students need to retain their originals; however, this service is provided by appointment only. Students can schedule an appointment online.

    SCHEDULE TRUE COPY SERVICE APPOINTMENT

 

  • 24-Hour Drop and Go
    We encourage students to make use of our office mail slot to submit their final academic credentials. Students can find the mail slot at 507 East Green Street to the left of the main front doors. The mail slot is available for student use to drop off final credentials 24-hours a day at their convenience. We recommend that students provide their name, date of birth, and UIN on the envelope when using this option.
To be considered official, an academic credential must:
  • list the conferral of all degrees earned, the degree awarded date, and all coursework completed,
  • be certified or attested by the registrar or comparable official of the University, and
  • be received in a signed/sealed envelope from the institution.
All final, official credentials are required during your first term of enrollment and you will not be allowed to register for subsequent semesters until all required documents have been received. Please see the final deadline date for submitting these credentials based on your admit term:
  • Fall and Summer term admits - credentials must be submitted no later than November 1; we recommend submitting prior to October 1 to avoid registration delays.
  • Spring term admits - credentials must be submitted no later than April 1; we recommend submitting prior to March 1 to avoid registration delays.

Please note that if you have already provided final, official academic credentials to your department office, the department will work with the Graduate College to clear those conditions of your admission.

U.S. Institution Document Requirements:
  • The transcript must list your degree as awarded and the degree conferral date.
    • Oftentimes, this information is not listed on your transcript until up to a month after your graduation. For example, if you graduate on May 15 and you order a transcript on May 20, your degree information may not be on your transcript yet. You will want to check with your university to make sure your degree information is on your transcript before sending it.
  • The transcript must be issued by your university’s registrar’s office and have all coursework finalized. 
  • "Issued to Student" transcripts can only be accepted if they have remained in a sealed envelope.
  • If you attended the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the Graduate College will obtain your official transcript for you. You do not need to request official UIUC transcripts to be mailed or emailed to our office.
International Institution Document Requirements:
  • Students are required to submit final, attested copies of their transcripts (or mark sheets), as well as their certificates of degree (or diploma). We require these credentials to be both in the native language and in English.
    • If the university directly issues your credentials in English, native language documents may not be required.*
    • If the university lists the degree awarded and the degree conferral date on your transcript, a separate certificate of degree or diploma may not be required.*
  • All coursework and exams must be finalized on these credentials.
  • Credentials should be received in sealed envelopes directly from the institution.
  • Credentials should be issued on official letterhead/transcript paper, have an original seal or stamp from the university, and a signature from the Registrar.
  • We prefer English translations to be issued by your university, but we will also accept translations issued by a certified public translator, a governmental agency, or from an ATA (American Translators Association) translator.
  • We do not accept notarized copies of credentials. The attestation needs to be from your university or a government agency within your university’s country.
  • We do not accept credentials or evaluations provided by third party evaluation companies such as WES and ECE. Some of these companies do provide translation services and if they provide a true English translation of an attested credential, we may be able to accept the translation. However, the native language credentials would need to come directly from the university.
*If you are providing credentials from an institution in China:
  • We will always require both your transcripts and your certificate of degree. We will also require all credentials in both the native language and in English.
  • We do not need the graduation certificate, only the certificate of degree confirming the degree has been awarded.
  • If we are able to verify your credential online, we will accept CSSD credential verification reports from https://www.chsi.com.cn/en/.
    • IMPORTANT: If your CSSD report doesn't include your full student ID number or if it lists the last 4 digits of your ID as asterisks (*), you will also need to provide us with a copy of your university ID that shows your full student ID number.