General Admission Documentation Requirements

Determining Required Documents

Please locate your Academic Goal and highest level of education achieved in the table below and note the official documents required to complete your student record.

How to Track Your Documents

The Document Log can be viewed by clicking Document Log under the Academic Plan & Records dropdown at the top of your ecampus.

Your online Document Log in your student portal will list the required documentation needed to complete general admission to APUS. Some document requirements may not appear until your initial admission application has been reviewed. Also, any additional documents that you indicated on your Transfer Credit Application will not be listed until after your Transfer Credit Application has been submitted.

• If you see a status of Student Action Needed you need to take some action in order for this document to be received.
• You will see a received date next to the name of a document once it has been received.
• You will receive an auto-email to your email address on record whenever a document is posted as received to this list.
• Due to the volume of documents received each day, we are not able to honor requests to call a student when a document arrives.
• If you listed an accredited college or university and listed it on your Admission Application or Transfer Credit Application, we are unable to remove the entry from your Document Log until we have confirmed with your previous institution that you do not have a student record at that institution

Transcript Release Authorization Form

If you submit a Transfer Credit Application, you will also need to send in your signed Transcript Release Authorization (TRA) Forms. The TRA forms allow the Document Services Department to contact most previous colleges in the United States to obtain transcripts on your behalf, provided the college accepts third-party transcript requests. If the outside institution does not allow third-party requests, we will contact you with information on how to request the transcript yourself. If you choose to send official transcripts yourself, the TRA is not required and will be waived when the last transcript required is received.

Document Mailing Address

Please have any transcripts or other documents for your admission record sent to:

American Public University System
ATTN: Document Services
111 West Congress Street
Charles Town, WV 25414

Admission Document Policies

Registration Eligibility

• Undergraduate Students: You must submit all required documentation within 8 weeks of starting your first course or you will be blocked from future registration. However, you will NOT be dropped from any current registrations solely for missing your 8-week deadline.
• Master's Students: If you enroll in a master's level program, graduate certificate, or graduate non-degree-seeking program you must provide documentation of your undergraduate bachelor’s or higher degree conferral from an institution whose accreditation is recognized by CHEA. You will not be eligible to register for courses until you have demonstrated conferral of an undergraduate a bachelor’s degree or higher and any additional admission requirements.
  • You may provide an unofficial graduate or bachelor’s diploma, transcript, or official letter of pending graduation in a Bachelor’s of higher degree to your admissions representative for review. Once the admissions representative reviews the diploma, transcript, or official letter, you may be permitted to register for courses, provided your selected program does not have any additional admission requirements. You must submit official transcripts within 8 weeks of starting your first course or you will be blocked from future registration. However, you will NOT be dropped from any current registrations solely for missing your 8-week deadline.
  • If you completed a bachelor’s or master’s degree with APUS, you will not be required to provide an official transcript to enter into a graduate program with the university, but you may be asked to provide additional documentation based upon program of study.
• Paper Transcript Requirements: All official college transcripts for admission and TCE must be sent to APUS from the issuing institution and be received in sealed envelopes. No faxed transcripts or transcripts with envelopes that have been opened by the student will be accepted, even for temporary purposes. Paper transcripts must be printed on official tamper-proof paper and be received in our office inside their original sealed envelopes to be considered official.
• Electronic Transcript Requirements: Electronic transcripts are considered official if they are delivered by the original granting institution through a secured website.
• Degree Completion Letters: Letters showing degree completion and/or transcripts with no degree conferral are not acceptable for admission.
• Admission Status: You will not have a COMPLETE admission status on your record until all documents listed in your document log have been received.
• Document Ownership: Once you submit a document for admission or for transfer credit, it is considered a permanent part of you student record and the property of American Public University System. We will not return any admission documents to you.