Information Regarding USC's PDF Transcripts

The Electronic Transcripts service allows you to request your official USC transcript(s) on-line. Within minutes of receiving your order, USC will release a secure, digitally signed transcript(s) file in Portable Document Format (PDF). The University of Southern California has authorized Parchment Inc. to act as its agent for the processing of transcript(s) request orders. Parchment collects all fees and forwards the request to the USC Registrar’s office, where the transcript(s) is produced and released.

During the ordering process you will be asked to designate the email address of the person or entity to whom you would like to provide your official USC transcript(s). Once the order has been executed, two emails will be sent to your intended recipient. The first email will be a notification of the awaiting transcript(s) and the web address of the secure website where it can be found. While at the website, the recipient will be prompted to request that a pass code be emailed to them. The second email will provide a passcode that allows the designated recipient to retrieve the transcript(s) from the secure website. The transcript(s) is released as a PDF that contains a digital signature. The digital signature insures that USC’s identity has been verified by a trusted third party and that the transcript(s) is valid and has not been altered. A status bar or a pop-up screen (depending upon the version of the software being used) will display a message indicating whether or not the transcript(s) should be considered valid or invalid. Because of the special characteristics of the digital signature, the recipient must view the PDF using Adobe Reader version 9.0 or higher or through Adobe Acrobat version 9.0 or higher.

Attn. Mac/iPad users: The PDF software utilizes Adobe’s secure certified PDF technology and therefore may only be viewed using the free Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat. The default Mac preview application will not display the document correctly and a blank document will result should you attempt to view the USC transcript without Adobe software.

The recipient of your transcript(s) has (90) days from the time of notification to download the transcript(s). After (90) days the pass code will become invalid and a new order will have to be initiated. (Three unsuccessful tries will invalidate the pass code.) The PDF does not expire once downloaded. The PDF is available for printing with a watermark. USC has the capability to rescind the PDF transcript(s) in the event that an error occurs or if USC suspects unauthorized use of the PDF.