The Header: Your School's Identity
The header establishes your homeschool as a real educational institution. It appears at the top of every transcript and must be consistent across all documents you produce.
- School name — Required. Choose a name and never change it. "[Family Name] Academy," "[Family Name] Home School," or a completely invented name all work. The name should not include the student's name (that goes in the student section).
- Mailing address — Your home address. This is the school's address.
- Phone number — Your primary contact number. Admissions offices call to verify.
- Email address — A professional-looking email. If your only email is something informal, create a free Gmail address specifically for your school.
- School seal or logo — Optional but adds visual professionalism. Even a simple design adds credibility.
Student Information Section
- Student's full legal name — First, middle, last. Must match government ID exactly.
- Date of birth — MM/DD/YYYY format standard in the US.
- Date of graduation or expected graduation — For a final transcript: the actual graduation date. For an in-progress transcript: "Expected May [Year]."
- Social Security Number — Do NOT include this on transcripts sent to colleges. SSN is for FAFSA only. Including it on a transcript creates unnecessary identity theft risk.
Course Listing: The Core of the Transcript
Organize courses by year (9th, 10th, 11th, 12th) rather than by subject. This is the format college admissions systems expect and what dual enrollment programs process most easily.
For each course, list:
- Course name — Use standard academic naming conventions: "Algebra II," not "Math Year 3." "United States History," not "History." Specific names help admissions readers categorize courses quickly.
- Credit value — In Carnegie units: 1.0 for a full-year course, 0.5 for a semester course. Use our credit calculator to verify values.
- Letter grade — A, B, C, D, F, or Pass/Fail. Consistent with your stated grading scale.
- Level notation — "(H)" for Honors, "(AP)" for Advanced Placement, "(DE)" for Dual Enrollment. Not required but helpful.
- Year completed — The academic year (e.g., 2022–2023), not the student's birth year or a specific date.
GPA Summary
Report GPA prominently — many admissions officers look here first. Best practice:
- Cumulative unweighted GPA on a 4.0 scale
- Cumulative weighted GPA (if applicable), clearly labeled
- Total credits earned
- Academic year GPA for each year (optional but useful)
Use our GPA calculator to compute these values accurately.
Grading Scale
Include a grading scale table on the transcript itself. Do not assume the reader knows your scale. A standard table:
| Grade | Points | Range |
|---|---|---|
| A | 4.0 | 90–100% |
| B | 3.0 | 80–89% |
| C | 2.0 | 70–79% |
| D | 1.0 | 60–69% |
| F | 0.0 | Below 60% |
Signature Block
The signature block is your official certification of the transcript's accuracy. It must include:
- Signature line (your physical or electronic signature)
- Printed name
- Title: "Principal," "Administrator," or "Home Educator"
- Date signed
- Phone and email
Sample certification language: "I certify that this is a true and accurate record of the academic work completed by [Student Name] under the home education program of [School Name], conducted in accordance with the laws of the State of [State]."
What NOT to Include
- Social Security Number
- Race, ethnicity, or religion
- Immigration status
- Medical conditions
- Physical description
- Unofficial activities or awards (those go on the activities resume, not the transcript)
Only if the course was genuinely high-school-level work. Advanced math (Algebra I completed in 8th grade) and foreign language are the most common cases. List them under 9th grade with a note "(completed in 8th grade)" or in a separate section labeled "Pre-9th Grade Advanced Coursework." Do not include standard middle school subjects — that inflates the credit total artificially and admissions readers will notice.
Reconstruct from what you have: old textbooks, completed workbooks, library checkout records, dated book reports, test answer keys, receipts for curriculum purchases. Create the most accurate record you can from these sources. On the transcript or school profile, you can note "Records for 9th grade reconstructed from [source]" — honesty here is better than presenting a polished record that falls apart under scrutiny. For any courses you truly cannot document, err on the side of underreporting rather than overreporting.
Yes. A scanned wet signature (sign on paper, scan, paste into the PDF) or a proper digital signature (Adobe Sign, DocuSign, etc.) are both widely accepted. Most homeschool parents print the transcript, sign it by hand, scan it, and send the signed PDF. This is the safest and most widely recognized approach. What you want to avoid is simply typing your name in a font — that looks unprofessional and some admissions systems flag it.