Withholding student transcripts for non-payment of a institutional debt is a common practice at postsecondary institutions. However, as a student may require an official transcript to transfer and complete their program or obtain employment, the practice is increasingly criticized as punitive, not financially effective, negatively impacting student success, and disproportionately affecting lower-income students, Black, Indigenous, and students of color.
Minnesota is one of 13 states to have considered and/or enacted legislation limiting or prohibiting institutions from withholding academic transcripts in response to an unpaid balance. As part of Minnesota’s new legislation, the Office of Higher Education (OHE) is mandated to collect data on transcript holds from institutions. The information collected includes institutional policies about financial holds, data on students owing an unpaid balance at the institution (referred to as “debt” for purposes of this report), demographics of students owing an unpaid balance, and resources used to pay off the unpaid balances. The new law requires approximately 217 institutions to report data and includes Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, the University of Minnesota, all Minnesota private institutions registered with the Office of Higher Education, all Minnesota private schools licensed with the Office of Education, and public and private out-of-state institutions registered with the Office of Higher Education if they enrolled one or more undergraduate Minnesota resident.
The data presented in this report is as submitted to the Office of Higher Education.
