Verification of Academic Credentials for Incoming Students
After you accept your offer of admission, you must arrange for official documents verifying your academic credentials from prior institutions to be sent to Graduate Admissions.
Required Documents for Incoming Students
Official documents are required only after you accept the offer of admission, not during the application process.
We require official documents from all post-secondary institutions where you were enrolled in a degree program for at least one academic year. Documents must be received directly from the issuing institution or authorized agency in order to be considered official. We do not accept documents sent directly by the student.
We require your final official transcript showing completion of coursework required for the degree, degree earned, and the date of degree conferral. Transcripts should be submitted via a secure electronic service, such as Parchment.
We require your transcript and degree certificate to be verified by the China Credentials Verification agency (CSSD). All verification reports and any academic records should be issued in the English language. We require the following documents:
- Undergraduate-Level Credentials: For all incoming students who earned their undergraduate degree outside the United States and the People’s Republic of China, we require a credential evaluation from World Education Services certifying equivalency of your academic credentials to a U.S. bachelor’s degree or higher.
- Recipient Information: To ensure that your report is routed to the correct office, select the following:
- Institution Name: Stanford University
- School/Division: Graduate Admissions
- Attention To: (Leave this field blank)
- WES ICAP: Choose the WES ICAP option to ensure that a copy of your verified transcripts is included with the evaluation.
- Document-by-Document: The Document-by-Document evaluation is sufficient to matriculate into graduate study at Stanford.
- Timing: To allow plenty of time for processing, please request your WES evaluation as soon as possible after accepting the offer of admission and no later than July 1, 2026 (for students entering in Autumn 2026-2027). If you request your evaluation after this date, you take on the risk that the evaluation process will not be completed in time for you to be matriculated for autumn quarter. If your bachelor’s degree will not be conferred by July 1, please refer to the self-service tool for detailed guidance.
- Recipient Information: To ensure that your report is routed to the correct office, select the following:
- Graduate-Level Credentials: For all incoming students who were enrolled in a graduate degree program outside the United States and the People’s Republic of China for at least one academic year, we require verification of your official graduate-level documents through one of the following methods:
- Include your graduate-level credentials as part of your WES evaluation (preferred).
- OR - - Arrange for your official transcripts and degree documents to be sent directly by your graduate institution to Graduate Admissions.
- Include your graduate-level credentials as part of your WES evaluation (preferred).
Need Help?
Use the following resources for guidance on submitting your official documents.
What official documents am I required to submit?
Find out what official documents are required and where to send them, based on the location of each institution you attended and the timing of your degree conferral.
If you still have questions after consulting the resources above, submit a service request (SUNet login required).