WVa university graduates' transcripts blocked after closure

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Holly Martin had just been offered her dream job as a school guidance counselor and was on track to earn her second master’s degree when she got alarming news: State officials in Washington, where she lives, hadn't received her undergraduate transcript.

Without it, they said she couldn't receive her professional license, putting her job at risk.

She learned that Ohio Valley University, where she had graduated with a psychology degree in 2016, had not been returning transcript requests. She tried desperately to contact the school. She never heard back.

Hundreds of graduates of the private Christian university in northwestern West Virginia — which abruptly closed in December 2021 and filed for bankruptcy — have found themselves in similar circumstances as they apply for jobs or other opportunities.

The closure announcement said a group of employees would manage academic records, but that group later said top officials provided no guidance. Then, last week, a post on the university's Facebook page said providing transcripts isn't possible because the system had been hacked and all its files were deleted.

Testaments to six decades of scholarly achievement by thousands of people now appear to be gone.

The announcement sparked panic among former students. Martin still has around $22,000 in loan debt, and said it's painful to think the career she's worked so hard to build could be denied because of something beyond her control.

"It feels like a slap in the face — here I am paying student loans on a degree that I can’t even prove I have," said Martin, who already earned her master’s in family studies and is working full time while finishing her master’s in school counseling. “I’ve worked very hard for these career goals and spent a lot of time and...