Employment Education Verification

Looking for a company that provides education background checks? Professional education verification services help you confirm that a prospect has achieved the required certificate, diploma, degree or other educational credentials. Unfortunately, 70% of college students have stated that they would lie on a resume to get the job they want.

*Source: Accu-Screen, Inc., ADP, The Society of Human Resource Managers, 2012.

In light of this statistic, many employers feel that they cannot trust resumes and job applications. When the job market is tight and competition for good jobs is considerable, candidates are more prone to lie so they appear qualified. A job seeker who embellishes a resume or application with falsehoods likely does not meet your job requirements. More importantly, would you want to hire a dishonest candidate?

Confirming Educational Credentials: a Critical Step in Vetting

Education verification for employment should play a critical role in your vetting process prior to hiring. In too many cases, candidates provide false or incomplete information about their educational histories. A high number of employment applicants admit to “resume padding” — the practice of embellishing or misstating details.

Yet, for most types of employment, education constitutes an important consideration in hiring. The type of degree or credential earned, along with educational institution attended, can make the difference as you choose among multiple candidates. That’s one reason why conducting a thorough education verification check is so essential. Whether you need to verify a teaching certificate or confirm other credentials, a comprehensive verification:

Confirms that an applicant earned the claimed academic certificate, diploma or degree.
Reduces time and costs involved in the hiring process by shifting labor-intensive screening tasks to a team of professional investigators.
Verifies credentials earned from international educational institutions.
Exposes fraudulent credentials obtained from diploma mills and other questionable organizations.
Creates a better experience for employment candidates, who understand what to expect from the confirmation process.
Reduces the chances of costly errors that could result in bad hires.
Incorporates reliable research methods to provide complete, fast results.

Working with a professional provider of academic credential and degree verification is one of the simplest methods for reducing the risks posed by poor hiring decisions.

Detecting Diploma Mills and Fraudulent Credentials

Not every degree on a resume represents legitimate academic achievement. Diploma mills are unaccredited entities that don’t verify attendance and sell degrees without requiring real coursework or meaningful assessment. They often market themselves with polished websites and official-sounding names, utilizing “fast track” language designed to look credible at first glance.

For employers, these credentials create real risk, especially when a role requires specific education for compliance or client trust and safety.

How Do You Know a Diploma or Credential Isn’t Legit?

There are several red flags that can signal a fraudulent credential.

Degree timeframe. One of the most common is a degree supposedly earned in an unusually short timeframe, such as a bachelor’s degree completed in a matter of weeks or a master’s degree finished in a couple of months.
Nonexistent location. Another warning sign is an institution that cannot be tied to a verifiable physical address, or one that only lists a P.O. box with no campus presence.
Accreditation. Diploma mills may claim approval from agencies that are not recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, using misleading terms like “international accreditation” to sound official.

Because these schemes are designed to deceive, employers should not rely on surface-level research alone. A professional education verification background check goes beyond simple online confirmation and instead cross-references the candidate’s claims against trusted accredited institution databases.

Verification specialists can confirm key details directly with registrars or authorized institutional contacts, including dates of attendance or degree type and graduation status. When discrepancies appear, they are flagged clearly so hiring teams can make informed decisions. The goal is to protect organizations from credential-based fraud and help reduce exposure to negligent hiring claims, particularly when education is a stated job requirement or tied to licensure.

Global Verification Network: The Education Background Verification Process

Global Verification Network helps you make informed hiring decisions by validating the facts presented by potential candidates. Employing a bad hire can be a costly mistake. A background check with education verification helps you select the right Individual for the job — from the start.

So, what services does Global Verification Network provide as part of an education verification check? To begin the process, our investigators contact educational institutions to verify any credentials cited by a candidate in a resume or application. During the education verification process, we thoroughly review all information provided by educational institutions and compare it to the data provided by the candidate. Details reviewed typically include:

Name of the educational institution
Dates attended
Areas of study
Degrees or certifications obtained
Date of degree or diploma award
Credit hours earned, if the candidate did not complete a program
Honors connected to the certification, diploma or degree awarded

To perform a thorough verification check, our investigators require information including the candidate’s full name, date of birth and Social Security number. In addition, we use information the candidate provides — including the name, city and state of the institution, dates attended and credentials earned. If the candidate used a different name while attending the educational institution, our investigators will need that information as well.

For confirmation of professional licensing credentials, we ask for the name of the organization issuing the credential along with the type and number of the license, the state in which it was issued, the date of issuance and the expiration date. In rare cases, an educational institution may refuse to release information on a candidate. If such a situation occurs, our investigators can review a copy of a candidate’s diploma, degree or credential to verify education background.

Many employers are finding that a growing percentage of workers are international. Whether candidates currently live in a country other than the United States or have studied overseas, Global Verification Network can confirm educational information from colleges, universities and other organizations around the world. Our investigators understand the nuances inherent in working with foreign institutions and provide the results you require.

Choosing a Compliance-First Education Verification Partner

Selecting the right partner for education screening is not just about speed or cost. Accuracy and legal defensibility alongside a process built to protect your organization at every step are what counts.

Before choosing a provider, ask practical questions that reveal how thorough their process is. How many verification attempts are made before reporting a credential as unverifiable? What percentage of staff are FCRA certified? How are international credentials handled, especially in countries where records are decentralized or issued in multiple languages? What is the process when discrepancies are found, and how is the employer guided through next steps?

A strong partner should be able to explain exactly what is included, how results are reported, and how exceptions are handled. Key selection criteria should include staff FCRA certification, the breadth of verification databases and institutional contacts, documented turnaround times and transparent pricing with no hidden fees. Compliance depth varies widely across the industry. Some providers treat compliance as a checkbox, where only leadership is certified and the rest of the team follows basic scripts. A true compliance-first partner invests in training across the entire operation. All staff should hold FCRA certification, not just managers, and adverse action support should be built into standard workflows rather than offered as an add-on. A verification report is often used alongside other screening components such as employment verification and a criminal background check, so inconsistencies in process can create legal and reputational risk.

At Global Verification Network, our approach to education verification for employment is built around consistent accuracy and compliance. We treat each education check as a critical part of a defensible hiring process, giving employers the clarity they need to move forward with confidence.

Begin the Verification Process Today

Hiring the wrong job applicant can be a costly mistake. The process of recruiting and training an employee can cost thousands of dollars, which is wasted if a candidate turns out to be a poor fit for your organization. Bad hires can damage morale among your team members and cause irreparable harm to the reputation of your business. By working with Global Verification Network, you can feel confident that you have accurate, validated information on every employment candidate. To begin the background check education verification process, please 877-695-1179.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does verifying education credentials take?

In most cases, the process takes only a few days, although this depends greatly on the response time of the institution being questioned. If, for example, hard copies of records need to be located, this may result in a longer wait than for electronic records.

Will an education background check include the subject’s GPA?

Typically not, but there are certain circumstances in which asking for a candidate’s grades may be deemed appropriate. These often include positions such higher education teaching jobs, where an individual’s academic performance would be considered relevant.

Is there a limit as to how far back these checks can reach?

Unlike other types of background checks, there are no restrictions with regards to time. This means an education verification can include a person’s lifetime.

What do I need to provide to begin an education verification?

Minimally, you will need to provide the candidate’s full name at the time he or she was registered and his or her date of birth. In some instances, you may also be required to provide the candidate’s Social Security Number.

Could my business benefit from performing an education verification?

Absolutely — we have helped businesses across a wide range of industries verify the educational background of their job candidates. No matter what your company does, you want to be certain that the people you hire have all the necessary knowledge and credentials to get the job done right. Our services make it possible for you to hire with confidence.

Education Verification Background Check