User Guide

Transcripts can be found in the transcripts tab in your dashboard.

Go to your dashboard and click the click the + Create Transcript button. The new transcript form will open, and you can start filling in your student's information.

Please note that if you purchased a single student transcript subscription you will only be able to create a transcript for one student. If you have a multiple student subscription, click the + Create Transcript button to add a new transcript.

If you currently have a single student subscription and would like to add new transcripts to your account, you can upgrade your subscription by renewing with a multiple student subscription. Please contact the HSLDA Store at transcripts@hslda.org or 540-338-8670 if you need assistance in upgrading your account.

After your new transcript is open, you can start filling in your student’s information!

The transcript form has four pages: Student, School, Academics, and Signature. To navigate to the next page, enter information and click either the Save or the Next button.

Note: click Save or Next before navigating to another page to save your changes!

The Student and School pages list your teen’s personal and contact information as well as contact information for your homeschool. Although there is a great deal of overlap between the student identification information and homeschool contact information, they are listed separately to prevent any confusion about where the student went to school and who the homeschool administrator is (usually the parent).

To enter your address, first select your country from the dropdown and then click + Add Address. For US addresses, a standard address form will be shown. For addresses outside the US, a textbox will be shown. You should enter your address like it would appear on an envelope, and be sure to enter an address for the student and for the school as well.

Select a name for your homeschool (i.e., Classical Education Academy, Legacy Homeschool, Main Street Academy, Grace Homeschool, Firm Foundation Academy, etc.) that doesn't incorporate a copyright protected name (i.e., Abeka Academy, BJU Academy, etc.). This helps the reader (college, employer, etc.) know how to refer to your school. The wording on the transcript flows better when your family’s last name isn’t in the title.

The Academics page is where you enter the courses your student completed during each year of enrollment and the grades and credits that were awarded for each course. This is the most complex step, so we'll explain how it works in more detail.

This page is broken down into four years. The years are arranged in chronological order from freshman to senior. Most transcripts use a yearly grade-level format, listing courses by grade level and school year. Colleges typically prefer this layout. There are specific instances when a subject format is appropriate, with courses listed under subject headings. If you’re not sure which format to use, please see below: Which format is best?

To add a course to a school year, click the + Add Another Course button under the year that course was taken.

Each course has a title, category, type, grade, and credit.

The title is the name of the course. List academic subjects (language arts/English, math, science, social studies/history, and foreign language) first, followed by elective courses. Choose course titles that clearly convey course content. A textbook title is usually a poor choice for a course title. For example, even if your student is using Saxon’s Advanced Mathematics textbook, name the course after its content: Precalculus.

The category is the category or subject the course falls under, e.g., Language Arts/English or Math. This field is optional and for use only if you are creating a subject transcript. If you’re not sure which format to use, please see below: Which format is best?

The type of the course marks whether it was an honors or AP course. The type chosen will determine whether the course is weighted (See: AP, honors, and dual-enrollment weighting below for more info). Please note that if you choose to mark a course as Honors or AP, you should include that designation in the course title as this dropdown will only affect the weight of the GPA total.

The grade field holds the letter grade the student received for the course (see below on how letter grades become grade point averages). HSLDA’s high school consultants have some great information about grading high school assignments here!

The credit field indicates how many high school credits the course is worth. Most US states and universities have requirements on the credit value of each high school course. With the exception of Indiana, Idaho, New Jersey, and California, a high school academic course which lasts one year, or 150+ hours of instruction is generally worth one credit (75+ hours for .5 credit). A non-academic course earns 120+ hours for 1 credit (60+ hours for .5 credit).

Use the notes section to indicate what courses were taught by a specific public or private high school or other outside instructor. This section has a 400-character limit and should only contain pertinent information about the courses listed. Check out this resource to create an extracurricular sheet for outside activities!

The Signature page allows you to enter information about who certifies that the information in the transcript is accurate. Add the parent’s name and title under the signature line (i.e., Jane Smith, Administrator of Records).

Until graduation, the signature date should be the actual date you sign the document and will change each time someone requests the transcript. Upon graduation, you can enter the graduation date.

Sign your name clearly on a clean sheet of copy paper with a sharpie marker or dark pen. Take a picture with your phone or scan a copy. Crop and save as a .jpg or .png file and upload. Note that you must save the file as an image, and not as a PDF. Please contact us at 540-338-8670 or transcripts@hslda.org if you need help with this step!

You can open a transcript for editing by clicking the name of the student in your dashboard or by clicking the (edit) icon in its row. The transcript edit form will open and you can update the information in the transcript.

Courses within the same year may be reordered with a drag and drop feature! Simply hover over the symbol next to the course you want to move, click, and drag.

Use this option to archive transcripts that you do not need to edit anymore (such as a graduated student) so that you may add a new student. Make sure to download and save a copy of the transcript before archiving. Your transcript will be retained but you won’t be able to see or edit it unless HSLDA’s Homeschool Transcript Service restores it. To restore a transcript to your account there may be a charge.

If you have multiple transcripts that you’re editing it is best to keep a multiple student subscription.

You can delete a transcript by clicking the icon to the right of the transcript you would like to delete. Because deleting a transcript could cause you to lose a lot of work, you will need to confirm that you want to delete the transcript. Once a transcript is deleted it cannot be restored.

Students interested in applying to 4-year colleges or universities will benefit from using the yearly transcript format preferred by college admissions.

If you are an HSLDA member and would like to discuss this with one of our educational consultants, please give our office a call at 540-338-8670.

Unsure of what grades and credits to assign your teen’s courses? Please check out these resources on grading and assigning credits provided by HSLDA’s high school consultants!

AP and Advanced Placement are official trademarks of the College Board. A course labeled AP or Advanced Placement indicates that its content and syllabus have been approved by the College Board as meeting AP standards. Be aware that when a curriculum provider uses the phrase AP equivalent, the course cannot be designated AP on your student’s transcript (you can stipulate Honors instead). When listing courses on the high school transcript, include AP in the titles of College Board–approved courses only.

Check out this resource for more information!

If your course meets these requirements, indicate that in the course title and type. Course types marked as AP will be calculated on a 5.0 scale. Course types marked as Honors will be calculated on a 4.5 scale.

Dual enrollment is referred to in some states as postsecondary enrollment options (PSEO) or concurrent enrollment. These courses typically do not receive higher quality points for grades when you calculate the GPA (Ohio exception). As the homeschooling parent, you make the final decision about whether you will give a weight to dual-enrollment grades.

Note: when unweighted GPA is turned on in the print settings, GPA will be calculated on a standard 4.0 scale.

The default grading scale uses a four-point system with letter grades from A+ to F. Honors and AP courses have their grades weighted. Honors courses can receive a maximum of 4.5 points and AP courses can receive a maximum of 5 points (+/- grades add/subtract .3 from GPA). Half credit courses can receive a maximum of 2 points (+/- grades add/subtract .15 from the GPA).

If you use a grading system that is not based on a 4 point system or A through F letter grades, you can use a custom grading scale. Grading scales can be created from the Grading Scales tab in your dashboard. Simply click the + New Grading Scale button. Please reach out to transcripts@hslda.org if you would like help creating a custom scale!

Each grading scale has a name, and a set of grade increments. Grade increments are added by clicking the + Add Grade Increment button when editing the grading scale. You must name and save your grading scale before you can add an increment.

Each grade increment has a letter grade and a GPA value. The letter grade is what you will put for the grade when entering courses on the transcript, and the GPA value is what will be used to calculate your student's GPA. If you need to include honors or AP courses and wish to use a weighted version f your custom grading scale, you will need to add a separate, weighted version of your scale for each.

You may set the grading scale each transcript uses at the top of the Academics page.

Transcripts should be limited to one page upon printing. If your transcript is printing on multiple pages, please reach out to transcripts@hslda.org and we will see how we can help!

Addresses outside the United States are displayed as entered with the country added as the last line.

You may save your transcript as a PDF, print on your home printer, order a watermarked copy from the HSLDA Store, or send using Parchment! Additional charges apply for watermarked copies, and copies sent through Parchment.

To save, print, or order your transcript, go to the Signature page or click the icon next to your student’s name in your dashboard.

If you will be sending the transcript digitally or directly to a college, make sure to upload a signature (see Uploading a Signature above for help)! Hit the Next button and choose your print settings. Hit Next to go to the print page and choose your print option!

When colleges and other entities request an “official” transcript, it may be best to sign and date the transcript and place it in a sealed envelope; then sign your name again across the sealed flap of the envelope. This second signature assures the recipient that the transcript has not been changed in any way since you sealed it.

Some colleges, scholarship committees, and others will request an electronic signature if you send your transcript via email or if you submit an online application that requires an electronic version of the transcript. You should send the transcript in PDF format so that the information on it cannot be changed by the entity receiving the transcript.

Generally, it is not necessary to use watermarked paper. In some instances, people may be more inclined to view the transcript as official if it is printed on watermarked paper. Watermarked paper makes the transcript look professional and provides an extra measure of security because it prevents the transcript from being duplicated or altered in any way.

You can update your name and email address on the Account tab in your dashboard. To change your password, click the Change Password link and fill out the form.

The status of your subscription is displayed on the Account tab of your dashboard.

To renew your subscription, first visit the HSLDA Store. After your order is complete, follow the steps in the follow-up email you receive.

We have tried to address most frequent questions in this help section, but we realize that you may still have questions! Please feel free to email transcripts@hslda.org or call the HSLDA Store at 540-338-8670 with any questions.

You may also find many helpful resources for transcripts, recordkeeping, and beyond on our website!

Are you an HSLDA member? Did you know that HSLDA members have access to our team of high school consultants? They offer a wide range of help when going through the process of creating a transcript, including transcript reviews! Contact them by logging into your HSLDA account or by calling 540-338-5600.